The Wall Street Journal reported, that in the African country of Tanzania, President John Maguuli declared that COVID-19 was a “Satanic Myth” propagated by imperialist powers. This country of 61 million remained open throughout the pandemic. Doctors were barred from registering any cause of death from the virus and anyone found wearing a mask was labeled unpatriotic.

Foreign journalists were blocked from entering the country. Any news organizations that reported about COVID-19 were shut down for “Scaremongering” and reporters were threatened with jail time.

The president died in the spring. The cause remains secret, but analysts, diplomats and opposition leaders say he died of COVID-19. It was reported that the president was unconscious on a ventilator for a week before his breathing support was shut off. At the beginning of 2021, six senior government officials died in quick succession of “respiratory illnesses.”

The official death toll of Tanzania is 724. That low number is virtually impossible. The countries national statistics agency reported zero COVID-19 related deaths from May 2020 to June 2021. An Economist study estimated the true death toll to be over 69,000.

Mortuary workers, doctors and senior officials paint a much different picture. Testing in the country is scarce so the true numbers will never be known. Cemetery workers say that they might bury one body a day post pandemic but now they are burring up to 30 a day.

This is just one example among many, of countries who choose to under report about the toll that this virus is having world wide. Since citizens were told by the former president that the virus was a hoax, they have no reason to believe they need to get vaccinated to protect themselves.

Mad Cow presented Hound of the Baskervilles by Steven Canny & John Nicholson and directed by Tony Simotes as a soft opening for the theater. It was originally slated to open in January but the dates kept being pushed back because o the pandemic. They decided to present the show in July after the cast had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Three actors, Michael Geniac, Tommy Keesling and Anthony Pyatt Jr. seemed to ply a cast of dozens. I had read the Sir Conan Doyle book in high school so I was somewhat familiar with the story which was rather mysterious and foreboding. This fast paced show however was a madcap comedy that delivered on the laughs. Anthony Pratt did an admirable jog as Sherlock Holmes and he certainly got an amazing workout with lightning quick costume changes. Tommy Keesling was hilarious as the bumbling and yet quite insightful Watson. Michael Geniac performed primarily as Sir Henry Baskerville but was also hilarious as a cast of lower cast characters. As one he carried a sheep in a sack dragging his bum leg. Some of the acting hearkened back to the timeless physical performances in the early silent comedies. The sound and lighting cues in this show were spot on.

Mad Cow strongly advised non vaccinated patrons to wear masks although county government is advising everyone vaccinated and non vaccinated should wear masks indoors. Social distancing consisted of one seat between groups of people which amounts to about two feet of distance. Our group wore masks the entire time but mask usage in the audience was spotty at best. A fog machine supplied thick plumes of smoke which functioned as a reminder of how we were all swapping air in the small theater.

Some of the biggest laughs came from interactions with a stuffed scarecrow that represented a body that had fallen from a cliff. The pants slipped down resulting in some undignified bum humor. After a solid year with no theater it was fun to just relax an laugh out loud.  Mad Cow as now dipped it’s toe into live theater after a year of pandemic isolation. I do hope theater can safely continue to inch back into everyday culture. Broadway shows are beginning to open starting this fall, 2021 in NYC.