It's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh. I remember being in New York on the last day Broadway was open before it shut down because of the fast spread of the coronavirus.

It's hard to imagine so many theaters dark right now, putting artists and technicians out of work.

In today's talk, actor and educator Kara Green Epstein champions the power of theater,

which has historically survived other plagues before to help make meaning of this traumatic period we're in

and connect us to one another again one day.

Oh, for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. A kingdom for a

stage, princes to act and monarch to behold the swelling scene. Though to be totally honest,

right now I'd settle for a real school day, a night out, and a hug from a friend. The words that I spoke at the

beginning, oh, for a muse of fire, etc., are Shakespeare's. He wrote them as the opening to his play

Henry V, and they're also quite likely the first words ever spoken on the stage of the Globe

Theatre in London when it opened in 1599.

The Globe would go on to become the home for most of Shakespeare's work, and from what I hear,

that Shakespeare guy was pretty popular.

But despite his popularity, just four years later in 1603, the globe would close for an extended period of time in order to prevent the spreading and resurgence of the bubonic plague.

In fact, from 1603 to 1613, all of the theaters in London were closed on and off again

for an astonishing 78 months.

Here in Chicago, in 2016, new theaters were opening as well.

The Steppenwolf had just opened its 1700 theater space.

The Goodman down in the loop had just opened its new center for education and engagement,

and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater had just started construction on its newest theater space, The Yard.

Today, all of those theaters, as well as the homes for over 250 other theater companies across Chicago,

are closed due to COVID-19.

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