The pandemic has paused theatrical seasons around the world, but luckily the stage is home to a creative bunch. Lockdowns have resulted in artistic innovation—from Zoom plays that address family separations caused by the coronavirus to Blindness, a new work based upon a novel written by the Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. Set in a dystopian future, it explores an epidemic of blindness, the quarantining of the afflicted, and the consequent tests of humanity. Audiences are seated far apart from one another, in darkness, which is then electrified by light that pulses along the contours of the narrative, told by the actress Juliet Stephenson and heard in isolation through individual headphones. Thus social distancing is woven into the play’s deeply immersive experience. An acclaimed production from the Tony Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens, it debuted at London’s Donmar Warehouse, and now comes to New York for a thrilling second run. —C.J.F.