At the beginning of the pandemic quarantine/online teaching (for us, it was March 16), I decided that I was going to use this extra time not spent commenting or monitoring study halls to read and/or watch plays. Eventually, this got tiresome (not the reading, just the not being able to leave the house) and I added more content to my schedule (HBO’s “Watchmen,” “Torchwood,” “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” novels, etc.). Now that I’m unemployed, I figured it might be helpful to continue my reading list while looking for a job.

Typically I count how many books I read each year, using it as a personal best. Last year was 39, although I did count playscripts. This year, I’m keeping the plays separate. Also, the watch list doesn’t include play readings on Zoom that I attended or participated in or scripts in progress that I read for workshopping purposes.

Here’s the reading/watch list so far. I’ll update it as I go.

READ
Stage Kiss — Sarah Ruhl
Top Girls — Caryl Churchill
Hir — Taylor Mac
School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play — Jocelyn Bioh
Rough Magic — Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Lasso of Truth — Carson Kreitzer
Rapture, Blister, Burn — Gina Gionfriddo
Familiar — Danai Gurira
The Great American Trailer Park Musical — Betsy Kelso/David Nehls
Assassins — Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman

WATCHED
School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play — Jocelyn Bioh — Goodman Theatre
The Rest I Make Up — Maria Irene Fornes
A Disappearing Number — Complicite
Much Ado About Nothing — Public Theater
Treasure Island — National Theatre
Take Me to the World: Sondheim’s 90th Birthday
In-Zoom — Bill Irwin — The Old Globe
Twelfth Night — National Theatre
A Streetcar Named Desire — National Theatre
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Sea Wall — Simon Stephens
Fun Home — Jeanine Tesori/Lisa Kron — Victory Gardens
Mad Forest — Caryl Churchill — Bard/Theatre for a New Audience
Coriolanus — National Theatre
Feast — Megan Gogerty — Know Theatre
Putting It Together — Stephen Sondheim/Julia McKenzie — Broadway