Although the pandemic seems to be in the aftermath, it has many effects that will be difficult to overcome, such as attendance at theaters. Advance sales have plummeted and viewers don't buy tickets until the last moment. Scalded by so many changing measures and so many waves and contagions, buying a long-term ticket has become an act of faith that many people are not willing to do.
"Culture is safe", as has been repeated during these two years. And in fact no theatrical event has had serious consequences on the rate of infections. However, the public has changed habits or, at least, has cornered the ones it had. It does not only affect theaters, but the disappearance of the obligation to wear the mask in theaters has coincided with the arrival of good weather.
The director of the TNC, Carme Portaceli, said a few months ago: "Our theaters are the ones that usually have the most advance purchase and now we find that tickets do not begin to sell until the day of the performance approaches." Currently the 2021-2022 season of the TNC is at 54.4% occupancy, reports the center, when in pre-pandemic seasons this percentage ranged between 60% and 80%.
It is a general case and for this reason the Associació d'Empreses de Teatre de Catalunya (Adetca) has launched a campaign this May to encourage the public to return to theaters, with the motto "Tria teatre i emotional" . In the images, different combinations of spectators, such as a grandfather with his granddaughter, a couple or a group of young people, to show that each person has a show waiting for them in some room.
Isabel Vidal, president of Adetca, explains that the campaign aims to "highlight that for free time the theater is one of the great options, that you can have a great time and that is why we have made different image versions". Vidal acknowledges that it is "a complicated moment": "There has been a drop in consumption that worries us, but we trust that we can reverse it."
César Martínez de Obregón, director of art and content at Focus, notes: “Consumer habits have changed. Before the routines were more stable and now we are more impulsive and everything affects us. Every new pandemic measure has its consequences. In these circumstances, reflective theater is perhaps the one that is suffering the most”.
In general, until now the offer has been complete and interesting, but a succession of short-lived shows has been noticed in some theaters, something that does not make it easier for them to have become popular among people through personal recommendation, which activates the sale .
With regard to the occupation, to the trend that has been experienced throughout the season, except for famous successes that have registered full stalls, now we are entering what is considered low season, which does not go back until the Grec arrives, a festival that this year presents a stimulating program, with category shows. We hope that the "more stable routines" will return, as Martínez de Obregón refers, and the theaters will have high occupancies that allow maintaining a plural and quality offer.
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