Sunday theatre question: Will your theatre-watching habits change post-Covid?
11/10/2020
Theatres are starting to open again but a return to normality is a long way off. Some theatres have turned to the internet to show old and new work, have you embraced digital theatre during the lockdown?
And will your habits change for the longer term?
I've been impressed by the creativity of theatres in producing work during the Covid crisis. Although it's been the smaller theatre production companies who have really embraced the opportunity with innovative and imaginative work that has made the most of the technology available.
In a recent interview director Katie Mitchell talked about how theatres makers will need to embrace this new landscape, mixing mediums and platforms like they have never done before.
It is a harsh reality that social distancing is going to be here for quite some time. And once this pandemic has been brought under control that doesn't mean there won't be another one.
Lesson's need to be taken from this. Theatres need to find ways of building resilience, embrace the challenge and creative channels on offer.
Our viewing habits have had to change and while nothing will quite beat sitting in a theatre and watching a live performance, this new landscape should be embraced and explored for the longer term.
There are benefits of having work presented in a mixture of formats - accessibility being a big one, the opportunity to engage new audiences who would never normally get the chance to see work live.
Would love to know how you've been getting your theatre fix during Covid and how you think it will shape your theatre watching habits in the future.
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Last week's Sunday Theatre question was about production design fails.