As of October 1, the theaters can present plays in the hall with the presence of the public. Some of the theaters already met the spectators on the very first day, while others will do it later. Some of the theater managers agree with the imposed anti-epidemic measures, while others consider them exaggerated and unjustified, IPN reports.
Petru Hadârcă, director of the National Theater “Mihai Eminescu”, said their theater started work on October 1 and, owing to the interest of spectators, all the seats allowed in a pandemic situation were occupied. All the anti-epidemic measures imposed by the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission are obeyed: maintaining of social distance, disinfection, measuring of body temperature. Some 80% of the tickets are sold online and the fact that they are bought shows the public’s special interest.
There are nine exacts at the theater in total. There are also neigh entrances. Conditions were created for ventilation. Before the pandemic, all the tickets for all the plays were sold since March-April. The spectators were offered a refund , but 80% refused to get the money back. They waited and came to plays now. A kind of psychological pressure on the public is felt, but the actors are eager to have a public, as the public want to go to the theater.
The theater was financially affected when the pandemic started as the institution is only 80% subsidized by the state for paying salaries. The rest of the costs must be covered by the institution. Many of the tournaments that were earlier remunerated were cancelled, starting with March, but they hope the cancelled projects and programs will be restored.
Vasile Bârnă, vice director of the National Puppet Theater “Licurici”, said their first plays were staged on October 3 and 4, with the presence of the public in the hall. The debut play was “The Curious Elephant” in Russian. The next day the same play was put on in Romanian. The plays are usually performed on the weekend.
The process takes place by obeying all the anti-epidemic measures: a disinfectant carpet is placed at the entree, the distance of at least one meter is maintained and the body temporary is taken when the spectators enter the hall and they are asked to disinfect the hands. There are persons who monitor the behavior of spectators in the hall. The grownups must wear face masks. The children also come with masks. Those who do not have masks are offered one by the theater’s administration.
According to Vasile Bârnă, the plays until now were staged in the open air and the same rules were obeyed. “Surely, it was easier without restrictions as the situation is now tenser,” he stated, noting that of the 280 seats existing in the hall, not more than 120 are now occupied. The parents with children can stay next to each other or separately. The people are eager to visit the theater. On October 10, the theater presents she Russian language play “Spring has come!”, while on October 11 the Romanian language play “Magic games”.
Petru Vutcărău, director of the National Theater “Eugene Ionesco”, noted that the public is expected to come to the comedy “Art of Coexistence” on October 17 and 18. The tickets are on sale and the hall was prepared to comply with the restrictions. The hall has a seating capacity of 550 places, but only half of these will be occupied. Each person will have two empty seats next to them. The protective equipment and disinfectants were prepared. There was also made an audio clip informing the public about the necessity of obeying the anti-epidemic measures. There are markings showing the distance that the people should maintain in front and at the entrances to the theater. Before plays, the hall is disinfected. The buffet will sell only bottled drinks. The sanitary facilities will be disinfected on the day of the play, as will be actors’ rooms, etc.
The process is somehow difficult. Earlier, they could prepare the repertoire for at least a month ahead, but now they have to file an application to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research for each play apart so as to get an authorization. This should be done two weeks before the event. The theater must present this authorization to the police station that will delegate officers to check how the rules are obeyed. The plays must not be longer than two hours and must not have breaks, but most of the plays from their repertoire have an intermission and are longer than two hours. Many of these restrictions are exaggerated and are unjustified if judging by the behavior of the people in other places, such as public transport and cafes.
The tickets are being bought, but the public is more cautious. They didn’t manage to advertise their plays and many people don’t know that the theaters started work.
The theaters ceased operations in March in connection with the COVD-19 pandemic. In the middle of June, they were allowed to present plays in the open air.
