Quarantine Scenarios: Even if the situation improves, up to 50 people will be able to participate in the events inside, will it be worth it for the organizers? | Culture

STAGE

• face masks are no longer required in open spaces;
• restrictions on contacts and meetings between people are removed;
• the prohibitions of movement between municipalities are lifted, it is only recommended not to do so;
• contact teaching in schools is completely renewed;
• cafes can receive visitors indoors;
• events are allowed inside in fifty, in open spaces – up to 100 persons;
• business requirements boil down to 10 kv. meter area per person

The full plan is available here.

According to S. Kairis, the plan is only a guide

Culture Minister Simonas Kairys says the most important thing so far has been compiling guidelines for release from quarantine. “The situation will be reviewed every week and the government will make decisions on a case-by-case basis. However, we still had to start with something.” 15 minutes he said.

As S. Kairys said, the current priority was to decide when museums, libraries, reading rooms will open and there will be an opportunity to view events from cars:

“We keep in touch with the event organizers and accumulate international experience,” he added. “It should be understood that the plan has the potential to go the other way if we see that a pandemic is deteriorating.”

15 minutes remember that at the beginning of January interview the minister said: “Returning from quarantine is as important to me as your survival.”

On February 1, the minister on his Facebook He also shared information on when the cultural sector will gradually return from quarantine.

LNOBT: “It would be worth waiting for at least 200 or 300 people to participate live”

Jonas Sakalauskas, director of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater (LNOBT), said he did not want to evaluate the government’s decisions. “Let’s trust him,” he said. – We see that last summer there were completely different figures. Even now the cases are declining. But they were still much smaller. “

According to the interlocutor, the LNOBT team is already determined to spend this season. He also reiterated how difficult this situation is not only for art but for all institutions.

“The numbers are improving now and it would be important not to miss that critical moment, which is important for the economy and culture. Too much space can cause many losses, which are then difficult to recover,” said J. Sakalauskas.

Would Stage A at least consider reviving live performances? “In any case, we will take advantage of every opportunity, because contact with the viewer is extremely important,” the LNOBT manager began in response. – Are 50 spectators enough? No. This will not allow our theater activities and other similarly sized organizations to operate at full capacity. The LNOBT team is too big to play for so many people. “

“If there are 200 people working on stage and 50 people watching, both the spectator and the artist feel uncomfortable. I would say strange feeling. In that case, I would say that it is worth hoping that at least 200 or 300 people can participate in alive, ”he added.

LNDT: “Even with a full room, the costs of some performances do not cover”

Martynas Budraitis, director of the Lithuanian National Dramatic Theater (LNDT), believes that this restriction is a bit strict. “In Poland, as of February 20. The theaters start working in the middle of the hall. In fact, I cannot compare the diseases in Lithuania and Poland,” he said.

When asked whether allowing a maximum of 50 people to see the show indoors would recoup the cost of setup, M. Budraitis replied: “Even with a full theater, the costs of some performances are not covered. Looking at how big the performance is, how many actors it has, how complex the setting is. Let’s say there are performances that require three days of editing and a teardown, but there are also mono performances … “

Until now, the LNDT prime minister is planning as virtual broadcasts. The first is scheduled for April. “If we can let the spectator in, we will do it with manolon,” said the interlocutor.

LNF: “This is a complete cut in our activities”

Rūta Prusevičienė, director of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, noted that many theaters and orchestras in Europe have conducted research on group and public visitation in the context of COVID-19: “For example, the Dortmund Philharmonic in Germany conducted a serious analysis with doctors. It turned out that at 50 percent. employment and sitting with masks, there is practically no possibility of infection. After the first quarantine, when we were doing events with such employment, there were no infections in public in any of the institutions. They were on various teams that were in close contact while they worked, but we learned from our mistakes. We closely monitor the infections of employees and musicians. “

“It just came to our attention then. Even in stage A, this is a complete reduction in our performance. After all, we will live in this stage for another two years. It turns out that we will not organize live events in general, people will be disappointed and, perhaps, he will not walk anymore ”, he continued.

According to R. Previevičienė, currently the cultural institutions have moved hundreds of events into the summer season with 100% sales: “How much more are we going to move those blocks of events? You need to think very smartly here. After all, last year we came out of quarantine without problems, and this year we have all possible security measures (we can do the same, aut. Past) ”.

The director of the LNF thinks this is too much coverage and, in addition to the example from Poland presented by M. Budraitis, he also mentioned Estonia. “In Estonia so far with 50 percent. The assistance is organized,” he added.

Arena “Žalgiris”: activities in the great hall would be impossible

The Žalgiris Arena management also sent their responses in writing. According to his position, in such a setting, “it would be almost impossible for event organizers to organize concerts, performances or other events in the great hall of the” Žalgiris “arena”.

“It would be possible to play basketball games in the Great Hall, which are currently held without spectators. During the warm season, the Žalgiris Arena intends to further develop the Pakrantė project, which was born last summer. It is planned that the concerts are held outdoors in the “Pakrantė” space on Nemunas Island by the river, and at least slightly milder conditions apply to these events. “

When asked if there is a promise to cancel the events, to postpone the dates of the events, they say: “We hope to continue working successfully with the event organizers to move the scheduled events to other dates.”

They also agreed that the decision is tough. “In the first place, because the size of a specific location is not taken into account. The arena “Žalgiris” has several floors, so we can offer several solutions, where a certain number of spectators could be distributed on each floor separately, and their flows would not even cross. We have already implemented strict security requirements in the Euroleague match, so we have experience in managing flows and ensuring the safety of visitors to the Žalgiris Arena, ”the response reads.