The new plans will turn the Olivier theatre into an in-the-round performing space, with audiences sitting around all sides of the stage. This will increase capacity to almost 500 people.
Friday, September 18, 2020
National Theatre to transform Olivier auditorium to allow larger socially distanced audiences
The new plans will turn the Olivier theatre into an in-the-round performing space, with audiences sitting around all sides of the stage. This will increase capacity to almost 500 people.
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This is really interesting to see plans for theatre indoors being to put into place. Last week I commented on article from another British new source talking creating Covid safe performance environments. In environments like London with harsh winters on the horizon outdoor theatre won’t be an option for much longer and I think more of the larger venues are going to have to “play small” to allow audiences to attend live theatre. I do wonder though looking at this method of in the round theatre could this start to be translated to other parts of the entertainment industry. Looking specifically at live concerts in the like an in the round set up is not too dissimilar to what most stadiums in the US are already configured for with live events taking place. Venues like PPG Paints could possibly open themselves up to be used by other local theatre companies simply to keep the flame alive like National theatre is.
I think it's very cool to see an actual design model from a theatre that is redesigning their setup, rather than moving venues or trying some new way to deliver the experience (not that those are bad options). Considering the cultural significance of the pantomime specifically, this article goes to show how the dedication to bring back such a tradition resulted in a clever solution. However, this is still only one theatre. The theatre artistic director asking people to book ahead for 2021 comes as sort of a confirmation of a bleak truth, the fact that a vast majority of theatres will not be able to hold their pantomime events, even in light of the success of this theatre specifically. I can only hope that this success sets a precedent for other theatres and venues more generally to consider new design choices such as in-the-round as ways to better adopt social distancing.
This is a creative solution I have yet to see in reopening theatres. It would not have occurred to me to rearrange seating to be in the round. I still have concerns about gatherings of people occurring, especially since a lot of this will be during our regular flu season. One thing this article brought up that I have not seen in other plans for theatres reopening is the staggered arrival times. How does a theatre manage that? I would assume that when purchasing a ticket, the patron is instructed to be at the thetare at a specific time. Realistically, I just do not see that working out. There are always patrons who arrive late to any show. What happens when a patron is late for their arrival time? Do you still seat the patron or group, or are they now required to come to a different show? That definitely is something I would like to look more into with audience/house management.
I think that doing in the round performances are a good way to open theaters, and it's good to see that theaters are adapting their indoor performances in this way. However, I would have liked to learn more about the actual setup and policies. From the mock-up, it looks like they are allowing groups to sit together. Will these people all have to arrive as one, or can they arrive at various times? Are these groups limited to households only, or friends? How will arrivals work, as well as late seating? The mock-up shows that there are seats very close to the stage, which is also concern, as well as how far apart are the rows? While I do think that this is a good idea, it would have been nice to hear what other plans that the theater has taken to ensure the safety of patrons and performers, and one can only hope that they are seriously taking these into consideration as they build and set up their theaters.
I am fascinated that a theatre would decide to completely reconfigure it;s auditorium to appease these temporary restrictions. They must be thinking that these restrictions will last long term as reconfiguring the entire theatre would require something more than short term monetary gain. It will probably take them hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to reconfigure the stage which indicates that they think they will make a lot of money off of people wanting to see theatre during the pandemic.
Also, I did not know pantomime was a big part of the British theatre scene. I am perplexed as to why this type of theatre is such an integral part of their society. Is visual communication somehow more important in the United Kingdom than the United States? I will be doing more research into pantomime in the United Kingdom to find out why this form of theatre is important.
I found this article quite interesting. I am happy to hear that London theatre is able to find a way to return to live performances. And I would assume that all of the best resources were used to socially distance the theatre since it is at the National Theatre. I hope other west end theatres are able to accomplish this and then maybe this can transfer to the reopening of regional theatres in the US. I believe that the smaller regional theatre may try to open first and then lastly would be broadway theatres and roadhouses. Interestingly Broadway theatres might be open before regional theatres here, and may set the example for other theatres to follow. I have never heard of the Pantomimes that are mentioned in the article, I guess they do some sort of pantomime performance during that holidays that is a tradition.
Reconfiguring the physical structure of a theatre space is not a solution that I had considered, but it is certainly an interesting one to consider. The same number of seats can be physically spread out more in the round than in an end stage, allowing for more distance. It’s certainly something that companies that have attempted a reopening will have to deal with as we get into fall and winter and outdoor performances become less of an option, at least for those of us in climates with colder winters (California would probably still be okay). House management for in person indoor performances with these new restrictions also seems difficult - staggered arrival times are great until someone shows up late, and require those with early times to sit for much longer than necessary. Confirmation of ‘bubble groups’ also seems difficult - are they required to arrive together, or is it an honor system kind of thing? I wish this theater luck, but I’m not sure I would feel comfortable attending an indoor show in person yet.
I find it fascinating that theatre spaces are reconfiguring to have socially distant live events to accommodate audiences during the pandemic. It is interesting to see how they used seat configuration in the most optimal way by having every other row empty and distancing people in the rows in groups of either 2,3, or 4. This allows for the most audience members in the space as possible and accounts for the differing size in groups of audience members. Another interesting innovation in event planning is having audience members buy tickets with set arrival times to ensure social distancing while entering the theatre. I assume the best way to do this would be having the front of the house seated earliest and the back of the house seated last. The only problem that I would foresee is that some patrons wouldn’t adhere to the set times or be late due to the circumstances of life. It will be interesting to observe how strict the house managers enforce social distancing.
I find it fascinating that theatre spaces are reconfiguring to have socially distant live events to accommodate audiences during the pandemic. It is interesting to see how they used seat configuration in the most optimal way by having every other row empty and distancing people in the rows in groups of either 2,3, or 4. This allows for the most audience members in the space as possible and accounts for the differing size in groups of audience members. Another interesting innovation in event planning is having audience members buy tickets with set arrival times to ensure social distancing while entering the theatre. I assume the best way to do this would be having the front of the house seated earliest and the back of the house seated last. The only problem that I would foresee is that some patrons wouldn’t adhere to the set times or be late due to the circumstances of life. It will be interesting to observe how strict the house managers enforce social distancing.
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