Relieved and delighted to finally have a reopening schedule to work with, the cultural community is ready to move forward with a view to the reopening of performance halls and cinemas to the maximum capacity announced for February 28. One of the first challenges to be met: bringing the public back into the theatres.
Updated yesterday at 6:02 p.m.
Tuesday’s announcements from the government finally respond to the request of the cultural community for a concrete schedule of relaxations and thus more predictability. First important date on the agenda: theaters and cinemas will be able to welcome the public to their maximum capacity from February 28.
The lifting of the measures which limited access to the rooms is not, however, a guarantee of a return to normal. “It is not enough to say that we are open. Regardless of the capacity, tickets will not sell overnight,” says David Laferrière, president of RIDEAU, which has 350 theaters in Quebec.
The one who is also general manager of the Gilles-Vigneault Theater considers the deconfinement plan and its relaxations for the cultural community as “a nice surprise, very nice news”. If he now sees an opportunity to move forward, he also knows “all the weight of the work that awaits [le milieu] to restore public confidence.
“It is not the will of the government, but when you have been saying for two years not to go to these places, it is part of the collective imagination,” he says.
So, to convince people to come back to see shows, it will be necessary to rely on the quality of the programming, but also “to remind the world that our places are safe and that this meeting between the public and the artists is precious”.
“The artists will come back, we have to see if the public wants to find the artists,” said Michel Sabourin, spokesperson for the Association of Independent Performance Halls (ASSIQ).
Help from the Ministry of Culture is expected to attract crowds. “I sincerely hope, and this is the message I am sending, that the government is not going to rub its hands saying that we can reopen and that is enough, without providing support to rebuild the clientele and bring the artists back on stage. »
“We are working with the community to ensure that people return to theaters”, replies the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, joined by The Press shortly after Tuesday’s announcements. “We have already done work in this direction, with advertising campaigns. Artists are in the best position to do their publicity campaign, so we give them money to do it. We have already given several million. […] There are several measures in place to ensure customer return. »
Other measures
Another important announcement of the plan unveiled on Tuesday: from March 14, performance halls without seats, for the moment still excluded from the relaxations in cultural places, will be able to reopen. The same will be true for dance floors and karaoke.
Thus, the cultural industry will soon be able to start running at full throttle again, although an exception applies to arenas, namely the Bell Center and the Videotron Centre, which will remain at 50% of their capacity until March 14.
Until they reopen to full capacity, theaters (with seats) and cinemas will continue to welcome spectators at 50% capacity. From February 21, however, the maximum capacity of 500 people, currently in force, will be lifted. Wearing a mask will remain compulsory, as will the vaccination passport, in all cultural places.
Outdoor events without restrictions on March 14
For outdoor events, we will move to a possibility of 1000 people to 5000 from February 14. From March 14, there will be no limit on spectators. “I’m delighted and I’m happy to have more predictability,” said Martin Roy, president and CEO of the Grouping of major international events (REMI). “We will be able to plan our events with a form of insurance, we will be able to prepare for a real comeback this summer. »
“We have held dozens of meetings over the past few months to find an exit and a way to resume activities,” said Minister Roy. We listened to the environment, and what it asked for was a lot of predictability, to know things as soon as possible. That’s what we did with this announcement and we also added flexibility. »
By “flexibility”, with regard to the rooms, the Minister of Culture means that each owner has the latitude to adapt to the reality of the coming weeks, to reopen or not his room at 100% of its capacity when it is possible. “Those who have just redone their configuration, we support them, we support them financially so that they do not have to play yo-yo with their productions, with the spectators and so that they can welcome their audience. »
The government financial assistance to the ticket office, which grants a refund of up to 75% of unsold tickets, will remain in effect until March 31 to allow this transition, assures Mr.me Roy.
Ready to “roll up their sleeves”
The date of February 28 thus marks an important moment for the cultural industry, which has been shut down since December 20, the date of the third closure of performance halls and cinemas since the start of the pandemic.
“It’s good that we know what to expect in the same way as the other sectors of the economy, because we are very often forgotten and we learned the measures of the cultural field a few weeks later, raises Michel Sabourin , of the ASSIQ. There, we know it, we will roll up our sleeves and we can work with a recovery date. We can plan the reopening of our buildings, which have been almost abandoned for two years. And we’re going to try to bring our workforce back, which won’t be easy. »
Many challenges remain. In the short term, we have no fear for the programming, since for the past two years, shows have been constantly postponed, while others are added, explains Mr. Sabourin. On the festival side, everyone was already working hard to set up their events before the break and the uncertainty brought by the Omicron variant. Now we can get back to work again.
Martin Roy also has no doubt that spectators will be there for the festivals. “There’s a real appetite, I can’t imagine people won’t be there. The public is in need of festivals, after the winter and the last two years that we have known, everyone will want to celebrate and have a little levity in our lives, he says. The vaccine passport is here to stay, so I think people will be reassured to be in a place where everyone is going to be vaccinated. »
At the mercy of variants, no one (not even the government) can guarantee that these relaxations are here for good, even if everyone wants them. “The cultural environment is very safe and it is exemplary,” said Minister Nathalie Roy. This is my message for Public Health: we need culture in life, we need to do good, so leave our places open. […] And I want to say to people: please continue to do yourself good, go subscribe, go to our performance halls, the artists are waiting for you. »
“We believed in it last fall and we have to believe in it again. The deal is not the same this time, we can count on a real recovery, says David Laferrière, optimistic. The challenge of putting people back in our theaters is major. But the living arts, nothing will replace that. »