Ronan Ynard, the secretary general of the Théâtre du Nord, had no doubt that the public would come back to see plays, but he did not think that he would do so so soon and despite the Omicron wave. Restarting the season in September 2021 had been “a little difficult” in his words, with gauges around 70-80%, but “since December, we have been lucky enough to be almost fully booked on all our dates.“Especially since there are no more restrictions in the hall, the 440 places of the theater can be occupied. A return from the public which warms the heart: “_We find loud applause which is very important for artists_. We knew the room was only a third full, with very sparse applause, it’s not very happy!”.
Mathilde Méry, who plays one of the main roles in the play The Iliad, currently being performed at the Théâtre du Nord, shares this rediscovered public happiness, which is well worth the efforts of the actors. To avoid any Covid contamination and therefore a cancellation of the play, the actors are forced to be very careful. But on stage too, the Covid is upsetting some practices. In the Iliad precisely, the actors begin the masked play, since they are in the middle of the public. Admittedly not very practical, but for Mathilde Méry, herself a former graduate of the Ecole du Théâtre du Nord, the game is really worth the effort: “_It’s actually not very comfortable to wear the mask to play but we do with it! We haven’t played for a year and a half! We are so happy to be able to be there, to play in a beautiful theater where we are full! It’s amazing, we’re crazy! Even if you have to wear the mask, who cares, we’re here and we’re very happy about that_!”
The threat of having to stop everything at the first case of Covid
The entire Theater team is well aware that the risk of registering a case of Covid and having to cancel performances is permanent. Moreover, in December, when they were complete, four performances of the show Tales and Legends, by Joël Pommerat had to be canceled following the discovery of a case of Covid among the actors. So the risk exists, but we have to deal with it, says Ronan Ynard, secretary general of the Théâtre du Nord. A health bubble is created around the actors, all staff members are equipped with FFP2 masks. And the theater continues to project itself into the future: “We know that the ax can fall, but we plan anyway! We act like everything is going to be fine. We build the schedules, we schedule the artists for a full season. And if we have to cancel, well we cancel and we pay everyone“. A policy made possible for the theater of the North by its status as a National Dramatic Center which lives on 80% of public subsidies.