A theatre in Berlin that was founded by German poet and playwright Bertold Brecht and his wife and actor, Helene Weigel, has made a new social distancing statement. The theatre has now removed most of its chairs so as to help implement social distancing. The theatre that was built in 1949 used to have 700 seats, which has now been reduced to 200 seats, thus maintaining the 1.5 m of social distance.
The Berliner Ensemble, the theatre group that runs this theatre has also removed intervals from the duration of the play. So now you have no intervals, and great leg room. But you must book tickets at the earliest, because there are only 200 seats available now. The theatre is set to open in September, and so they have made new plans to maintain social distancing.
The theatre wants to create an experience that is special, and authentic. Hence, they have not removed entire rows, but have worked on it systematically. They have removed every second row, and have arranged the remaining seats in pairs, or left them individually. Now, without any intervals, the audience will be permitted to go to the bathroom whenever they would like.
The theatre has even maintained a distance of three metres between the stage and the first row of audience. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the theatre gets enough air, some of its doors will remain open. There is a further problem, and that is the number of actors who can remain on the stage at a time. In order to maintain social distancing on stage as well, certain plays have now been postponed. Plays such as Macbeth have been removed as they have scenes where actors kiss.
The theatre is also starting contactless ticket checking, and audience members are required to wear masks until they are seated. Plus, the crows management system is also going to be improved for smooth entry and exit.