“Just Cause It's Optional Doesn’t Mean It's, Like, Weird to Wear a Mask Now, Right?” asks Local Man
- Broadway Beat

- Jun 21, 2022
- 1 min read
by Steven Verdile. @stevenverdilecreative.

NEW YORK, NY - The Broadway League announced today it is updating its mask-mandate to a mask-optional policy beginning July 1st, and theatregoers everywhere are wondering how this change will unfold. One man who spoke to us prefers to wear a mask, but was concerned he might stand out more now.
“Masks? Oh I love them. But now with this policy change, will I look like a weirdo in my shimmering white half-cracked face shield?” asked the man in his haunting voice. “I’ve felt more comfortable wearing a mask in the theater for decades, and it took awhile to catch on, so I was really pumped when they finally became popular. Seeing this new policy reversal has me bummed... and I’m already a pretty sad guy as it is.”
The whiny man also seemed to have an affinity for wearing ghoulish black capes, but the Broadway League has always had a cape-optional policy.
Th man quickly stormed away from us, saying he needed to go plead his case to revive the mandate.
“I'll go write an angry letter - that always seems to work.”




This piece humorously captures how shifting norms can make even personal comfort feel awkward again. It reminded me of how perspectives change depending on context—kind of like when I play World Guesser, a geography game where you explore places and guess locations based on visual clues.