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Post by Cleo on Apr 14, 2020 6:28:10 GMT
Does anyone recall going to the theatre in the 1980s when it could be just a dozen in the audience? My point being that theatres survived tough economic times. I went to the RSC to sit in circle with just 4 other people (Jonathan Pryce Macbeth) Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome barely 12 people in the stalls and so on.
However I can see that this is more than just will people be able to afford to go. Maybe reconfiguration of seating so that not knocking knees with adjacent person would actually be welcomed (by me) How about seating like the Everyman cinema with sofas so away from people.
Isolation pods for vulnerable audience members. These could be short term measures until the all clear.
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Post by Jan on Apr 14, 2020 7:44:40 GMT
Does anyone recall going to the theatre in the 1980s when it could be just a dozen in the audience? Yes. In recent years Greenwich Theatre has been a reliable source of this type of nostalgia. |
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Post by crowblack on Apr 14, 2020 8:32:24 GMT
My point being that theatres survived tough economic times. I wonder how budgets compare, then and now? My favourite type of show is a small cast, studio-type production where the focus is on the performance and writing. This may be because I grew up mainly watching plays at the (pre-bomb) Royal Exchange and Everyman in the 80s, where, being in the round and low budget, or touring productions, sets were minimal. I've seen quite a few productions that have spectacular but unnecessary sets - did we need the video screens in Hamlet, the opening boxes in the Welkin, the Cern set in Mosquitoes, the rotating set in that Hampstead thing screened last week which must have cost a packet? I'm sure the concept could have been conveyed in another way. Theatre doesn't have to compete with Marvel movies. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Apr 14, 2020 10:24:34 GMT
crowblack you are really speaking my language. I find the NT to be a terrible offender. The MCF also do it but as they recieve no public subsidy although I still find it frustrating.
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Apr 14, 2020 11:24:22 GMT
Does anyone recall going to the theatre in the 1980s when it could be just a dozen in the audience? My point being that theatres survived tough economic times. I went to the RSC to sit in circle with just 4 other people (Jonathan Pryce Macbeth) Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome barely 12 people in the stalls and so on. However I can see that this is more than just will people be able to afford to go. Maybe reconfiguration of seating so that not knocking knees with adjacent person would actually be welcomed (by me) How about seating like the Everyman cinema with sofas so away from people. Isolation pods for vulnerable audience members. These could be short term measures until the all clear. Very interesting idea to have the audience in the new cinema mode with table and sofas etc. At the Rafe Spall play at the Dorfman, they had this kind of thing as part fo the layout. He interacted with the people sitting there so i think you could say if you didn't want to sit there. Brings into question the fourth wall thing and where theatre will go in the future. And the end of the play about the guy murdered by the Russians comes to mind, the way the audience had to read out at the end; One man Two Guvnors of course used an almost cabaret club type effect which the RSC attempts in comedies sometimes. Works sometimes, sometimes not. So I’m thinking tables, comfy chairs, food....aha food....drink..and different drama. A challenge for our old West End theatres but places like The Bridge are designed for this kind of thing. Whether the money will work, I don't know. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2020 11:47:41 GMT
I wonder how budgets compare, then and now? Budgets seem to have inflated considerably in recent years. At the end of the twentieth century even a West End musical could open for a few hundred thousand and recoup in a few months at most. A couple of figures I have are The Goodbye Girl (1997) for £750k and Hard Times (2000) looking for investment of £800k but with a minimum go-ahead figure of £450k. By 2010 Legally Blonde had setup costs of £2500k. I have no idea what the costs are right now. |
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Post by intoanewlife on Apr 14, 2020 15:33:40 GMT
crowblack you are really speaking my language. I find the NT to be a terrible offender. The MCF also do it but as they recieve no public subsidy although I still find it frustrating. I think the problem at The National is the size of the stages, especially The Oliver. Look at Hadestown, it looked like a lone kit home plonked on a brand new empty housing estate. |
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Post by basdfg on Apr 15, 2020 10:38:30 GMT
Apparently in France the feeling is no theatres or tourism till a Vaccine or if they do open only for those who had the virus (not really good for the theatre world.)
Would any theatre survive a year or two without opening?
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Post by talkingheads on Apr 15, 2020 11:46:01 GMT
Apparently in France the feeling is no theatres or tourism till a Vaccine or if they do open only for those who had the virus (not really good for the theatre world.) Would any theatre survive a year or two without opening? I don't think it's the theatres so much as anybody who works in theatre from actors to everybody backstage and front of house will have found other jobs by necessity. That's an astonishing number of people who then have to be coaxed back, possibly retrained. |
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Post by basdfg on Apr 15, 2020 12:34:33 GMT
Apparently in France the feeling is no theatres or tourism till a Vaccine or if they do open only for those who had the virus (not really good for the theatre world.) Would any theatre survive a year or two without opening? I don't think it's the theatres so much as anybody who works in theatre from actors to everybody backstage and front of house will have found other jobs by necessity. That's an astonishing number of people who then have to be coaxed back, possibly retrained. I imagine it be easy enough to get actors back but front of house and many of the backstage roles will be tougher |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2020 13:01:14 GMT
Latest news from Germany is that the advice to the govt is to reopen theatres quite a bit earlier other 'mass gatherings', which I assume means gigs - scoop from Der Spiegel was on Twitter over the weekend, but my German isn't up to it!
Also said that the advice is no football till a vaccine, which will be bad news for a lot of people.
Stage editorial says the industry assumption in this country is a likely reopening from Sept.
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 15, 2020 13:12:54 GMT
Football in Germany is still, in large measure, standing (so closer proximity). There is no real difference here between seating at the theatre and at football matches. The issue would presumably be in entrances, exits and mingling spaces - bars, cloakrooms .. Or is seating still too close.
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Post by basdfg on Apr 15, 2020 14:00:14 GMT
Latest news from Germany is that the advice to the govt is to reopen theatres quite a bit earlier other 'mass gatherings', which I assume means gigs - scoop from Der Spiegel was on Twitter over the weekend, but my German isn't up to it! Also said that the advice is no football till a vaccine, which will be bad news for a lot of people. Stage editorial says the industry assumption in this country is a likely reopening from Sept. Probally concerts than the under 500 seats gigs.
I imagine in Germany it will go bars first- leave it 2-4 weeks then theatres/cinemas - but i imagine the first hint of a local outbreak will shut them again.
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Post by basdfg on Apr 15, 2020 14:01:08 GMT
Football in Germany is still, in large measure, standing (so closer proximity). There is no real difference here between seating at the theatre and at football matches. The issue would presumably be in entrances, exits and mingling spaces - bars, cloakrooms .. Or is seating still too close. Still to close and people tend to stand up and cheer. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2020 20:13:39 GMT
Football in Germany is still, in large measure, standing (so closer proximity). There is no real difference here between seating at the theatre and at football matches. The issue would presumably be in entrances, exits and mingling spaces - bars, cloakrooms .. Or is seating still too close. My only experience in the last few years is of Division Two, not far off the bottom. Plenty of space in the stands but all scrunched up close to the halfway line and still big crowds getting in and out. Multiply that for bigger teams. Lots standing in the terraces behind each goal as well. They could play behind closed doors but no gate money; they play with a crowd and they are not social distancing. Maybe they would be able to make enough money by live broadcasts on their streaming service (even the smallest club has them now). |
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Post by crowblack on Apr 15, 2020 22:02:56 GMT
Still to close and people tend to stand up and cheer. I suppose in theatres/cinemas, people could wear flu masks without ruining the atmos too much! |
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 15, 2020 23:09:59 GMT
The world has to start turning again, just as it did after 9/11. And it will. Economically, we all have no option as markets are interdependent and businesses are global. We may have to accept combo of higher death rates and higher risk till vaccines appear. After all, death to infection ratio typically ranges from 2-4% with 6-10% for exceptional cases. It will come down to how many trillions of debt we want to preload for future generations. Plus, without wanting to sound callous, more folk have died in Syria and many other war zones through deliberate human decisions and interventions. Millions died in World wars. Covid 19 has proved containable with a lower impact than might otherwise have been expected. Mass lockdowns needed to happen as nobody knew how severe it might get; with every passing day we have a better idea of the numbers, rate of infections and deaths. We now need a plan to kick start the global economy otherwise in the long term more people will die of poverty or hyperinflation than the coronavirus.
Rare to find someone talking sense and looking at the bigger picture, instead of hysteria.
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Post by talkingheads on Apr 16, 2020 9:15:53 GMT
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8,162 posts
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Post by alece10 on Apr 16, 2020 9:25:52 GMT
Maybe they will reconfigure the theatres so that we all sit in little sterile perspex boxes to watch shows.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2020 9:55:37 GMT
I'd be very careful about media headlines - I have a great deal of respect for journalists but in 20 years of working in media relations I've never once seen a completely accurate news report of research we have announced. In general, the media likes a neat narrative and doesn't cope well with nuance or uncertainty. And a screaming headline of doom gets more clicks than something more restrained and accurate.
Also social distancing doesn't mean what we are currently doing, which is at the very extreme - there are gradations.
This is why I've largely stopped watching the news; this level of speculation and prophecies of doom do no one's mental health any good.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2020 10:34:52 GMT
Note the qualifier: if no treatment is found.
It's like saying "All Life On Earth To Be Wiped Out if an asteroid 100km across smashes into us".
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Post by basdfg on Apr 16, 2020 11:10:10 GMT
Probally a bit alarming but could be the case.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2020 11:58:32 GMT
Latest news from Germany is that the advice to the govt is to reopen theatres quite a bit earlier other 'mass gatherings', which I assume means gigs - scoop from Der Spiegel was on Twitter over the weekend, but my German isn't up to it! Also said that the advice is no football till a vaccine, which will be bad news for a lot of people. Stage editorial says the industry assumption in this country is a likely reopening from Sept. Gosh I hope so. My first booking when things are up and running again will be Starlight in Bochum! |
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Post by richey on Apr 16, 2020 12:42:52 GMT
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Post by TallPaul on Apr 16, 2020 12:54:10 GMT
I appreciate this is a constantly changing situation, and he obviously knows far more about this than I do, but if you type Professor Neil Ferguson into a search engine, he gives a different opinion, to a different media outlet, just about every day.
And if the quote is correct, surely social distancing will continue either indefinitely OR until a vaccine is available?
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