Once public indoor gatherings are allowed again, there will be specific problems for village hall and small venue organisers. Will people want to be crammed into small spaces? How can you keep your audience at a reasonable distance from other people, so they can relax and be entertained safely?
So here’s my cunning plan….
You book two performances of my show on the same day. You split your audience – some will prefer an afternoon show, some will choose the evening. You make sure that you only sell tickets in advance, so you can control the numbers. This way, you can spread out the chairs.
Having two shows is only very slightly more expensive than having one – so it won’t break the bank – and all the advance organisational hassle will remain largely the same (although it will be a long day for your volunteers). There will obviously be all sorts of issues about people arriving, using the toilets, queuing for cups of tea and so on. But if you keep the numbers down so there is plenty of room, all these issues should be soluble.
My one-hour shows do not have intervals, so you will only have to get people seated at the beginning – no half-time hassles.
So it may be possible to get some live entertainment back to your village hall soon…
Contact me if you want to talk through the possibilities. We are all going to have to be flexible and inventive if we want to keep theatre alive!
See you in 2021?
