In North Rhine-Westphalia they should fill up the whole theater. In Berlin too. In Hamburg, at least for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. Markus Söder has also announced for Bavaria that after the summer break, the previously applicable restrictions on spectators in theaters, operas, concert halls and cinemas will fall if only the 3-G rule is observed and the mask is continued to be worn. That means: full occupation. Theoretically. An almost unbelievable step after the past year and a half, in which big theaters had to be content with 200, then 50 and a painfully long time with zero spectators. But can the theater-hungry now expect a blissful intoxication in bursting stands?
Yes and no. Most of the municipal and state-subsidized theaters are currently not opting for full cast and no mask, but are working out their own sets of rules. Berlin, for example. According to Corona regulations, with appropriate ventilation systems, 100 percent of the audience should be allowed in without a mask. Nevertheless, the Berliner Ensemble, for example, decided to keep the mask requirement in order to give the audience the greatest possible feeling of security in the rather narrow theater, as the press spokeswoman explains.
Everything would now also be allowed at the Schauspiel Köln: booth full, without a mask. But even there they are planning for the season opening on September 10th with only 60 percent, specifically for the large “Depot 1” that means 296 instead of 480 spectators. For this they can take off their mask at the seat. The idea is that people should be able to relax a little again, but still feel safe, that’s why it is better to forego the full occupation.
Each theater has special features that the employees know best
In Hamburg, where there is currently the option of 2-G, i.e. access only for vaccinated and convalescent people, most theaters prefer the 3-G variant. In the “chess board” you are sitting again at the Hamburg Thalia Theater, with a distance and with a planned occupancy of 50 percent. So no house full to the brim, not even for vaccinated and convalescent people. The Bavarian State Opera happily announced as one of the few that it was postponing the start of advance sales due to the new situation, and that they wanted to rearrange the seating plan for full occupancy first.
The fact that the houses are now not tumbling into full occupancy shows that artistic directors know how to deal with responsibility. Every theater needs its own models, because each one has different structural features, some are more airy, others are more narrowly constructed, some have older viewers, some younger ones, who put a different strain on wearing a mask.
You have to be able to afford that, not to exhaust the capacities, but the subsidized houses can still do that. However, this responsibility also goes hand in hand with the fact that theaters may now be able to apply for less compensation for possible losses, for example from the 2.5 billion euro cultural fund that the federal government only passed in May. Because they could have filled up. Theoretically.