The COVID-19 pandemic may be in our rearview, but we’re still reckoning with pandemic-era art.

In 2020, there were Zoom play readings, virtual dance performances, concerts streamed on social media and more. They were created with urgency and heart, if not the highest production quality. Now, we can engage with them with post-pandemic perspectives and ask: What art managed to transcend its moment?

I missed Trademark Theater’s film “What You Can’t Keep” when it first streamed in 2021, mid-pandemic, and again in 2023 when it was released as an expanded version. But I caught it earlier this month on the big screen at the Parkway Theater, and you can see it again on Oct. 27 at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis. Even with its pandemic-era origins, the film stands on its own.

Playwright Harrison

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