Challenge & Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic forced theaters around the world to shut their doors and face existential questions about the future. Theaters asked how to safely reopen and how to responsibly welcome back audiences that may have been wary of public gathering. Against a backdrop of anxiety and uncertainty, organizations around the world were left trying to decipher rapid developments in science as well as evolving protocols and recommendations. Audience members had questions about what would be done to ensure their health and safety. Artists and theater staff are wondered how their own roles might change, and what would be done to protect them. Recovery felt like an ever-moving target, as the landscape was constantly changing and the specific approaches and timing for reopening were contingent on government regulations and disease dynamics that varied based on location.

As the professional theater at Harvard University, the American Repertory Theater is in a unique position to engage with leading experts in public health. In order to distill essential questions and articulate both principles and a set of primary considerations around the challenges that theaters are facing, the A.R.T. embarked on an initiative with the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Led by A.R.T.’s Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Dr. Joseph Allen, Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science at the Harvard Chan School and Director of the Healthy Buildings Program, this interdisciplinary collaboration sought to imagine a path toward recovery and resilience for theater following science-based public health principles.

Roadmap for Recovery and Resilience for Theater with Diane Paulus and Joe Allen

Joe Allen and Diane Paulus discuss the Roadmap for Recovery and Resilience for Theater and the principles and guidance it offers to help theaters and other performing arts organizations promote health and safety at this November 12, 2020 event.

Health and safety first. Reopening efforts should focus on the question of how to open safely rather than a notion that “we must open.” The health and safety of staff, artists, and audiences are paramount at every step. All decisions should be informed by local, state, CDC, and WHO rules and recommendations, and all measures should be grounded in public health science and infection control.

A layered defense strategy is warranted. There is no such thing as “zero risk,” and there is no singular solution to recovery and resilience. No individual control method is sufficient to eliminate risk, just as no one single entity or person has sole responsibility. Rather, the goal is to minimize risk by pursuing a multi-layered defense integration strategy with shared responsibilities across staff, artists, and audiences.

Timelines will be determined by disease dynamics. Theater staff and artists can begin familiarizing themselves with the interventions necessary to minimize risk. However, guidance from the scientific and medical communities; national and regional disease dynamics; and evolving local, state, and national policies will determine the timing for the implementation of these strategies.

Recovery will require flexibility and agility. It will be necessary to respond dynamically, and we can anticipate disruptions. Projects can start slow and scale up—or down—incrementally, in response to new knowledge. There will be a learning curve for all theaters, and it will be crucial to acknowledge that approaches will vary from venue to venue, and to leave room for plans to be modified based on new insights and advances, including developments in screening and testing.

Acceptance of new norms. This crisis has required staff, artists, and audiences to adapt to new behavioral norms. Just as past emergencies have reshaped global security and safety practices, alterations made to standard practices in the face of this new challenge may seem unusual at first but become routine, and even expected, over time.

Building trust will require transparency and open communication. At every point along the road to recovery, clear communication strategies to build social trust and provide reassurance among staff, artists, and audiences (and to share new knowledge among organizations) will be as vital as the interventions themselves. While some control methods may be immediately visible, others (such as ventilation changes) may not. Explaining all the steps, visible and invisible, that a theater has taken to minimize risk will go a long way in reestablishing confidence and trust. Collaborative efforts among staff, artists, and audiences will be critical to minimizing risk.

Ethics, equity, and anti-racism must inform all responses. Recovery plans should include focused efforts to prevent stigmatization of or unlawful discrimination against any artists, audiences, or staff members. The A.R.T. is committed to a practice of equity, diversity, and inclusion in all its activities and operations. The theater is centering anti-racism as a core value, including in our policies, structure, programming, philanthropy, communications, pedagogy, and workplace culture. This journey is sustained, ongoing, and foundational to the theater.

This roadmap is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It outlines factors to consider regarding the general operation of theaters in an effort to reduce the risk of disease transmission, specifically novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19. The roadmap is not intended as a set of directions. Each theater’s situation is different. Each will need to devise its own plan, based on its particular circumstances and informed by applicable governmental and public health regulations and guidance, other resources and information, and expert advice specific to its situation.

This roadmap does not purport to be comprehensive. It presents a set of ideas. It is not intended to supersede or substitute for guidance from government and health organizations, including, without limitation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the United States Government, and any States. The roadmap reflects information available at the time it was created. The A.R.T. does not warrant that the information and ideas presented are up to date, nor does it warrant their accuracy or completeness or their suitability to any particular theater’s purposes. Applying ideas and information in the roadmap will not ensure prevention or mitigation of disease transmission. The A.R.T. assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any injury or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of the roadmap.