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Curtain Call: Allow theatres to operate at 100% occupancy
Cinemas can have multiple hundred shows at a time. It is difficult, but still, they can survive the 50% capacity clause in some way. But for theatre, it is impossible. Either the government should increase the occupancy or should help the venues by providing some sort of a subsidy on rent
Theatres are reopening at long last in Maharashtra! Just a week more. I have met many people who asked me how I am feeling about this, since it has been a long wait. It certainly has! But I still didn’t have a concrete answer to “how am I feeling about this?”.
The government has issued SoPs to restart cinema halls and theatres at 50% capacity. I have a Marathi film which is ready and awaiting release since the past one year. Before anyone asks why we did not release it on an OTT platform, which is the norm these days, I would like to inform them that it is not entirely in the hands of the producers. Also, the demand from OTT platforms for regional films is not that high. So, I am happy that cinema halls are reopening.
Once the date of reopening was declared, my theatre group also went ahead and booked venues for performances. We started planning for the shows in excitement and realised that there is no way we can cover our per show expenses! We went through our expenses line by line, trying to cut corners wherever we can. But we have been cutting corners for the past ten years now. We know the drill well. But even with all this, the probability of a financial loss was high. Granted, that we are a non-profit group and the only intention is to present as many good performances that we can. But there is no way we can survive at 50% capacity. Especially at smaller venues.
I spoke to other theatre groups and producers, who work at an amateur and commercial level. And everyone is facing the same problem. It is even worse for producers of commercial plays! Their team depends on the collection from the performances for their livelihood. The past year and a half have forced everyone to take up alternate professions. Many have taken up farming, selling vegetables, catering, driving or whatever can earn money for their family. There was some help from the government and NGOs, but I think everyone understands that there is only so much that others can do.
Once we realised that there was going to be a loss because of 50% capacity, we reached out to the venue authorities and checked if we could save on rent expenses. But they explained that they have to incur maintenance costs and salaries of their staff as well. Salaries, which they (thankfully) paid when the theatres were shut. So, the only option is to increase ticket prices. But how much of a burden can we pass on to the audience? We cannot double our ticket prices, that would be unfair! And, also a poor move. The number of people who will come to watch the show will dwindle even further. It is a textbook catch-22 situation.
I do think that the government has absolutely no vision for artists and the art. What our leaders should realise is that any particular place is known in the world because of its art. Whether it is architecture, gastronomy, museums, theatre, music. Unfortunately, that is being ignored here and is being allowed to die a slow death. Even an artist turned Minister of Parliament, Mr Amol Kolhe - who belongs to one of the ruling parties – has written a letter to the honourable chief minister regarding this.
Cinemas can have multiple hundred shows at a time. It is difficult, but still, they can survive the 50% capacity clause in some way. But for theatre, it is impossible. Either the government should increase the seating capacity or should help the venues by providing some sort of a subsidy on rent.
Just yesterday, I was stuck in a traffic jam because there was a crowd of people of the road who had visited a temple on the occasion of Dussehra. Multiple people were going through a metal detector at one time, pushing and pulling each other. At that time, I had an answer to the question “How are you feeling about theatres reopening?” – “I don’t know. I just don’t know”.
Nipun Dharmadhikari is a storyteller and looks forward to telling them on stage, in front of the camera or in person.
