Wishin’ and hopin’ and plannin’ and streamin’
It was typical of the small New Theatre in Essex Street, Dublin, that it led the way in streaming online even before The Abbey. It produced a series of 12 plays by 12 writers performed by 12 actors between April 7 and May 8, as part of its Fight Back Festival.
‘Our audiences supported us with the festival’, says theatre director Anthony Fox. ‘The Take Your Seats donation site was a huge support.’
‘We couldn’t have achieved the success we did without it. We had over 40,000 engagements online, and all the artists involved will be paid. Seventy percent of donations will go to them. It all helps sustainability, but artists will require long-term support from the usual funding sources, like Dublin City Council, the Arts Council and the arts quangos the Government will set up post-Covid-19,’ he adds.
‘Our box office supplies 55/60% of our income. The Covid payments are keeping us alive currently. Our landlord is very understanding but the rent is not being reduced. Considering the uncertainty it’s even possible to try getting some kind of line-up for the future,’ he says.
They have a list in mind of small cast and monologue plays. First on the list is Jackie, by Gerard Humphreys, about Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of JFK. It deals with the friendship she had with
Father Joseph Leonard, a chaplain she met in Ireland in 1950 and who became her spiritual adviser. He was a contemporary of Michael Collins and George Bernard Shaw.
They hope to launch the play in July or August, restrictions permitting.
‘With the new distancing regulations, our seating capacity will reduce from 68 to 25. It will be a challenge, but no matter, it’s easier than working in an ICU ward!’
A survey by the Arts Council shows that 90% of artists in many spheres have been affected by cancelled or postponed events this year. The arts organisations estimate the loss of audience at 2.4m people, with more than 12,000 events cancelled and hundreds of staff laid off.
Almost half have applied for the Government’s Covid-19 emergency payment, a group likely to be joined by the team that had run Bewley’s Cafe Theatre. The theatre is without a home after the announcement of the permanent closure of Bewley’s Café in Grafton Street, Dublin.
‘The play will be a challenge – but it’s easier than working in an ICU ward’