Curtain comes down for SA theatres

When the first lockdown was announced in March last year, theatres across the country went dark. A number of them have not reopened. Even before lockdown, theatres were struggling for audiences. Now their fate hangs in the balance.

“Gatherings – in the case of theatre audiences – are deemed to be super-spreaders of the virus, so festivals have been cancelled, theatres shut and curfews have restricted people going out at night, making theatre unviable,” says playwright and cultural activist Mike van Graan, who is part of the Sustaining Theatre and Dance (Stand) Foundation that started in September to raise funds for projects that will provide some form of income for people in the sector.

“Artists are independent contractors rather than ‘employees’ so they are excluded from the benefits made available through the UIF, for example.

“I think there is a general realisation that we are on our own and we need to take care of ourselves,” says Van Graan.

The psychological impact of the closures should not be underestimated, says Van Graan.

Unemployed theatre practitioners are struggling to cover basic expenses like rent, school fees and food.

“After a year of lockdowns, the theatre sector has been decimated financially and, inevitably, there are high levels of depression, physical unwellness and not a few suicides,” he says.

“Even though no one is to blame for our current predicament, many theatre people are blaming themselves for their struggles; feeling abandoned by the government and thus feeling that they are not worthy of support. They doubt their choice of career and many are actually contemplating leaving the theatre industry,” says Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, a screenwriter, actor and composer.

The National Children’s Theatre in Johannesburg, for example, has had to reduce staff numbers from 12 to five, according to Daniel Geddes, its artistic director.

“The workshop numbers have dropped from about 1 500 kids to about 50 kids. Theatre offerings have been hosted outside. What we offer at this point is significantly less but we are slowly trying to figure out how to introduce some of the other programmes in various ways,” he said.

“We are trying to figure out how to make it from one month to the next,” says Geddes.

For the first time in 20 years, the pantomime at the Joburg Theatre was cancelled.

“It was heartbreaking because the pantomime is a culmination of the year’s work,” says Justine Lipson, customer services manager at the Joburg Theatre.