If the times of pandemic were and are very hard for actors, musicians and all practitioners of an art that depends on the performance, a recent provision of the city government not only does it not alleviate this situation but it also adds fuel to the fire. According to a series of instructions that are being sent to professionals who have applied to act during the season of summer(set between the 9th of this month and February 16, one day before the eventual start of classes) in squares, museums, amphitheaters, libraries and other public spaces of the City, they are these actors and musicians, and not the Government, who will have to take care of everything: from hiring private security to alcohol gel and toilet paper in the bathrooms; from taking the temperature of the spectators to controlling their chinstrap and respecting the distancing (not the one Brecht requested, although that is the actor’s own, but the one required by the covid-19 health protocols); from providing sound equipment to contracting accident insurance. And, also, to charge the entrance via ticket system and take charge of the publicity and diffusion. In a word, that anguished artists, if they want to perform in any of these public spaces, must transform themselves into an SME.
–
