This text is part of the special Theater booklet
The public does not always realize the number of invisible people needed to prepare a show. Technicians, managers, set and costume designers, counter clerks, directors, assistants: they are all essential.
Preparing performances without knowing if they will take place, selling tickets and canceling everything at the last minute: this has been their daily routine since 2020. As constant change became the pandemic norm, they had to adapt to multiple closures, cancellations, reopenings, postponements and passports. While those whose status was already precarious, such as technicians, found themselves out of work, most office workers had to work twice as hard.
“We had to work very hard, because we had to constantly remind our ticket buyers because of the unforeseen changes in the sanitary measures, which required a lot of management. There are people who have been reimbursed up to eight times over. The most difficult thing for motivation is that we worked without ever seeing the result, ”says Danièle Drolet, general manager of Théâtre La Licorne and president of the Association of specialized theater broadcasters (ADST).
Same story at Duceppe, where it took three attempts before the piece King Dave can finally be presented. The tour of King Daveorganized throughout Quebec, visited five cities instead of the thirty planned.
“It’s certain that in institutions like ours, most workers have kept their jobs, and compared to artists or health care workers, it was a privilege,” says Amélie Duceppe, Executive Director. But we worked in quadruple. At some point, a loss of meaning sets in. We wonder what all this will be for, since we still run the risk of canceling. »
There are people who have been reimbursed up to eight times over. The most difficult thing for motivation is that we worked without ever seeing the result.
In the heart of the storm, theater houses have also shown their imagination to provide as much work as possible for their artists and craftsmen, by creating possible projects within the limits of sanitary measures, such as workshops and laboratories. Creation.
To reinvent oneself
Beyond the logistical headache, a positive consequence of the pandemic is that the cultural community has had to modernize its working methods and tools, in particular by adopting teleworking and collaborative platforms, as in many sectors.
Faced with the temporary impossibility of welcoming the public and getting artists to work, the invitation to artists to “reinvent themselves” from the Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, at the start of the pandemic, shocked more of one. Artists, by the nature of their work, are already constantly reinventing themselves. And when it comes to adapting the performing arts to the virtual world, we see that the public is not necessarily there.
At Duceppe, two pieces were recorded and are still presented online. A project funded by the Ministry of Culture has made it possible to develop paid distribution on the respective websites of members of the associated theatres, of which Duceppe is a member.
“We learned from this experience, but we also understood that making recordings is very expensive, and that it is not our know-how. Using cameras without using the cinematographic language that goes with it is counterproductive. An actor doesn’t perform for the hall the way he performs for the camera, and that doesn’t do theatrical work justice. That’s why we went to seek out renowned directors, such as Stéphane Lapointe and Anne Émond. »
In the medium and long term, however, this model may not be viable, because the appetite for live arts online is not so great, notes Amélie Duceppe.
For a return to living art
If we must not declare victory too quickly, everyone hopes that the pandemic will soon be a thing of the past. Workers in the theatrical world do not have time to take stock of this painful interlude, they are too motivated to return to the public and prepare for the next season.
“We have so much work to do for what is coming that we no longer think that much about the pandemic, says Danièle Drolet. What has undermined everyone’s morale during the pandemic is not having an audience. We are happy to find him. This is what gives meaning to our work. »