Dutch stages and theater producers wonder whether they will be able to keep their heads above water after the government support ends. Because of the distance rules, only about 20 percent of the seats can be occupied, but not even those tickets are sold, says the Association of Theater and Concertgebouw Directors (VSCD).
“Many people are still shy to go to the theater. Not everything is sold out,” said a spokesman. The fear of infection persists among the main target group. “Everyone is working hard to keep their heads above water.”
‘Restraint’
“People are reticent”, says Dries Floris, director of theater de Kattendans in Bergeijk. His theater went down from 280 to 66 seats, but thanks to a renovation he was able to increase that to 100. “In July and August we had 60 performances and I expected a higher capacity.”
Normally his theater is closed these months, because the season doesn’t actually start until September. Floris therefore hopes that the occupation will increase in the near future. “It seems that the hall is filling up more quickly lately, there is a bit more confidence among the people. We have done everything we can to get it safe.”
According to the CBS In 2018, around 24,000 people worked in the sector and there were around 54,000 performances and concerts. “Many people depend on the money that is spent here,” says Yassine Boussaid, director of the Meervaart theater in Amsterdam. “Not only us as a theater, but also the lighting technician, make-up artist, surrounding catering industry and taxi driver.”
Limit loss
Theaters now cost money, but most of them open. “I am not speaking of profit or loss, but of limiting loss”, says Floris of theater de Kattendans. “The experience is different for the audience and the artist. Tonight Ellen ten Damme is playing in a room that is a quarter full, normally she can sell out Carré.”
“This is the second time in six months that I have performed”, says Ten Damme. “They make it cozy here with two-seater sofas, theaters use it creatively.
But it is actually sad, normally we are in front of a thousand people, now a hundred. “, She says in this video:
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