As Belgium prepares to close its theaters, French cinemas and theaters are wondering, even if “the time is not yet for panic “. “It hangs on our nose a little. All the signals are red but we hope to be able to avoid a new closure”, Jean-Marc Dumontet, influential owner of Parisian theaters, told AFP.
“The trend is not good, we all see in our entourage that the cases are increasing. We wonder how long we will hold”, completes the director of the City Theater Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, joined by AFP. Faced with the outbreak of Covid-19 cases, Belgium announced Wednesday to close, as of Sunday, its theaters in an attempt to stem the spread of the Omicron variant, which is spreading throughout Europe, causing the disarray of actors of the show. Belgium thus joins the Netherlands, whose inhabitants have been confined since December 19 – and the places of cultivation closed, in fact.
If for the time being the French government has not planned new restrictive measures, the Minister of Health warned on Wednesday that an explosion of cases was to be expected in the days to come. A new surge in cases that rekindles the trauma experienced by the world of culture, forced to lower the curtain for seven months between October 2020 and May 2021.
However, “it is not yet time for panic”, ensures, therefore, Jean-Marc Dumontet. “The teams continue to play, we are not going to stop and we will adapt no matter what.” Anticipate for “regain control of the virus”, It is also the will of Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, who is already trying to postpone performances, initially scheduled for January and February.
But in the short term, it is not hypothetical new government measures that worry the performing arts world, but the surge in cases within teams, leading to serial cancellations. At the Mogador theater, the show The Lion King, an adaptation of the Broadway musical, has suspended performances until December 31: “Too many cases of Covid-19 in the troop.” On Wednesday, the Châtelet theater also announced that it would have to cancel several performances of its show Cole Porter in Paris.
In England, several performance venues in the West End, the musical district, have had to cancel dates because members of their teams tested positive for Covid-19. Same scenario on Broadway, New York. Cancellations all the more damaging for the economic balance of these rooms and shows as the public flock to these theaters during the end of the year celebrations.
As for dark rooms, the hypothesis of new restrictions worries. “For the moment we don’t know, we are in total uncertainty”, Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of cinema operators, told AFP. “We have advantages that we did not have before, such as the vaccine and the vaccination pass which will arrive in January. All of this makes our rooms protected places”, he insists.
The fact remains that this climate of uncertainty can also lead distributors to postpone the releases of their films, as they did during confinement but also after the reopening of theaters. This week, Gaumont announced the postponement of the release of two of his films, including that of Franck Dubosc Rumba life (postponed to August). If the production company has not given the reasons for its decision, the comedian confirmed Thursday on Twitter that it was due to the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic: “The health context is too heavy and the film too important to sacrifice it. We do not know what will happen at the end of August, but hey …”