Theaters have reopened, public broadcaster NPO allocated 10 million Euros to spend on culture
After having been closed for two weeks due to Covid-19, theatres and other cultural institutions such as libraries and cinamas reopened last night. Theatres will maintain the measures that were imposed before the partial lockdown.
Last night the first live performances were shown once again in theaters all over the country. Theatres are allowed to welcome audiences of 30 people. Some theatres, most of them bigger venues, will remain closed. In Utrecht, Theater Kikker and Stadsschouwburg Utrecht have reopened. The cafés and restaurants in theatres will remain closed, no groups larger than four (from a single household) are allowed and masks are mandatory.
For bigger venues and theatre companies, performing isn’t viable under the current restrictions which include a maximum cast and crew of 30 people. Theater aan Het Vrijthof in Maastricht and Het Beatrixtheater in Utrecht had closed their doors before the partial lockdown, and will not open at least until the new year. Het Nationale Ballet decided not to go on stage, but to increase their online program that is available to stream. Other theatre companies have decided to perform for live audiences as well as online, such as Club Guy and Roni with Swan Lake and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
The Minister of Culture, Science and Education, Ingrid van Engelshoven, has announced she will assign 10 million Euros to the Dutch public broadcaster NPO, to be spent on cultural programming. The initiative is intended to expand opportunities for artists to show their work and ‘to give viewers a sense of having a night out while staying in’, as Shula Rijxman, NPO’s Executive Director explained in article in de Volkskrant. The plan of action will be coördinated by Lisa Boersen, responsible for the programming at Paradiso and children’s author, and Carel Kuyl, former media director at NTR until his retirement in 2017. Their task is to design a programme that is versatile and appeals to wide audiences, from classical music to stand-up comedy.