The theater lives low hours. The art of representation that draws on direct contact with the viewer has been one of the many victims of the restrictive measures imposed by the coronavirus. And it is that the number of shows that can be seen in the halls of Vigo have been reduced to a minimum with the chain cancellation of most of the proposals announced on the show billboards. The two major exceptions are the Ártika and Ensalle Theater rooms. Two alternative projects to which they are the only two cases with a non-institutional and stable programming despite the restrictions and capacity limitations.
“What we have to do is that people have access to culture despite the restrictions,” says Pedro Fresneda, from Ensalle Theater, who after a short break for rehearsals, will resume his activity next weekend with the play “The Tree”, which the Madrid company Terrorismo de Autor will take to the stage of Calle Chile and with Ensalle, Sergi Fäustino, Catalan choreographer, and Antoine Forgeron, technical director and illuminator.
Also from the Ártika room, all efforts are aimed at “continuing to program and offer cultural alternatives. To achieve this, you have to put a lot of love in what you do and not give up the effort, “explains Fernanda Barrio, who also highlights” the good reception that all the works are had by the public. ” A good example is the representation offered this weekend, which days before the premiere had already sold out all tickets.
Public support
The support of the public at this stage “is being fundamental, although with the reduction in capacity the box office is very small”, explains Pedro, who still recognizes that “all our shows have been filled with seats that could be occupied”. In order to weather the storm and maintain the activity, both rooms resorted to the aid that the Ministry of Culture took out to support the programming.
In addition, the Xunta also activated mechanisms that allowed the resident companies to work “since at that time we completely lost the box office and had to continue in some way,” Pedro recalls.
However, he also assures that what was lacking during all these months in which they maintained their activity thanks to the work and dedication of all those who make up the staff of both rooms “was the support of the City Council, which did not make a single call to know what was our situation “, comments the head of Teatro Ensalle.
The commitment to programming despite all the difficulties
The two independent venues have shown unusual resilience in the entertainment industry throughout the endless ten months of the pandemic. After the de-escalation, the Ártika room resumed its programming in September, although in August they also had activity with resident companies. And it is that as Fernanda Barrio says “if the halls are going through bad times, the situation is much worse for the companies. The artists live off their work and now many cannot do it”.
At the Ensalle Theater, the restrictive measures imposed with the coronavirus did not bring down the curtain. The year 2020 ended with a program that found a great response from the public with full capacity. These days the rehearsals for the next premiere, which will take place next weekend, finish.
A program designed for this stage will be added to the work that will animate the Ensalle hall from the 28th, in which the main objective is “to allow people to have access to culture.” For this reason, they decided to lower the price of tickets for the unemployed, adjusting to the maximum all the gear that means keeping a room active and alive that has been doing quality culture in Vigo for 27 years.
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