The fate of theaters, cinemas, concert halls and operas, ordered to keep doors closed until at least June 2, remains uncertain. When can the performances or sessions resume? Last week, Catherine Deneuve, Jean Dujardin, Clara Luciani and even Oxmo Puccino, demanded from the President of the Republic the presentation of "a precise plan for the cultural sector ". Emmanuel Macron clearly heard them. But should it be inspired by the recommendations of the report by François Bricaire, infectiologist and member of the Academy of Medicine? Nothing is less certain.
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"The spectacle must not create a risk of contamination higher than that accepted by the level of deconfinement" , explains the professor, who insisted in our columns at the beginning of the confinement on the importance of not destabilizing the economy too much. For the first period of deconfinement, he defined three necessities: a meter 50 distance between the spectators, the wearing of the compulsory mask and the sanitation of the premises (cleaning and ventilation). Immunized people could move around unprotected. These recommendations vary slightly depending on whether the premises are closed or open.
The example of enclosed spaces
Take the most drastic example, that of enclosed spaces. According to the report, social distancing could be respected thanks to markings on the ground in the corridors and foyers of theaters and cinemas. Two seats must then separate spectators, unless they belong to the same family home. Finally, the entrances and exits would be organized in rows, under the watchful eye of the employees who, themselves, should not get too close to the public. Masks, fabric or surgical, would be mandatory.
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The concert intermission disappears, " unless it is arranged in such a way that distancing is constantly respected." In other words, only if large spaces are available. The cloakroom closes. The refreshment bar requires the same devices as those in current shops - glass, glove, organized queues - or goes through the hatch. Finally, between two cinema sessions or two performances, fifteen minutes of ventilation are compulsory. In the case of air conditioning, the filters must be changed regularly. The presence of a doctor is compulsory when it is a closed place.
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On the boards, the directors would become masters of deconfinement to enforce a minimum distance of one meter between the actors. Ditto for opera singers and orchestral musicians. In the event of imperative connections linked to scenes of anger or love, the actors should submit to temperature measurements and serological tests. Tests available in France during the month of May, which allow to indicate if the individual has been in contact with the disease but not to know if it is contagious or not.
First reviews
Can these recommendations satisfy the managers of theaters or cinemas? Are they only applicable? Initial reactions suggest that it is not. “A show is a moment of life, of sharing, of celebration. If the report is applied, I don't see how it can continue to be applied, ” says producer Jean-Marc Dumontet, head of six theaters in France. Especially since maintaining social distancing in theaters should not be easy, especially when it comes to old theaters that are sometimes very narrow.
The situation is even more complex for orchestras, which can include up to more than one hundred musicians for major symphonies. Where to put the musicians? The operation becomes quite impossible when it is an opera, since the phalanx is constricted in the pit. The question of the orchestra is also thorny because of the wind instruments (flutes, clarinets, oboe, bassoons, trumpets, horns ...). The musicians produce a lot of saliva while playing. To avoid spreading the virus, François Bricaire recommends "putting down laminar flow ventilation, if possible, to put aerosols on the ground as quickly as possible or isolating the musicians to winds behind transparent panels with sound and light" . A complex device to set up, which would not prevent them from contaminating each other.
Ticket prices multiplied by five
The other central question is that of economic feasibility. Whether for theater or music, will the small number of spectators be enough to make profitable the staging costs as well as the salary of a production team, actors or musicians? Nothing is less sure. "According to the report, we will play with only 20 to 25% of the usual gauge , " regrets Jean-Marc Dumontet. Before asking yourself: "Which company could survive with such a loss of turnover?"
The deconfinement does not only stir the French cultural sector. The American tenor Zach Finkelstein analyzed the situation of the Symphony Hall in Boston in The Middle Class Artist , an independent media specialist in classical music. He came to the conclusion that "social distancing in a large concert hall would probably be a financial disaster" . In the United States, the minimum distance to be observed is approximately two meters. In the hall, you need, as Bricaire recommends, at least two empty armchairs between each spectator. For example, the Boston Symphony Hall could only accommodate 492 people out of the usual 2,625. To recover this loss and be able to pay the musicians, the average price of a ticket should drop from $ 57 to $ 246.
I think in reality we will not be able to resume the scene before the start of next year
Cameron Mackintosh, producer of the musical Les MisérablesOn the other side of the Channel, the British producer Cameron Mackintosh, to whom we owe the musicals Les Misérables or the Phantom of the Opera , admits to pessimism at the microphone of BBC 2: "I think that in reality we will not be able resume the stage before the start of next year. ” Not until you find a vaccine, anyway. The professional is based on the difficulty of keeping social distances and, above all, on the impossibility of ensuring the public the pleasure of going to the show.