The World of Theatre in a Time of Change

Before, During and After the Pandemic

Abstract

The past two years have posed unprecedented challenges for the cultural sector as a whole, including theatres. The outbreak of the pandemic, and the restrictions imposed to contain it, turned the institutional routine on its head, placing the world of the performing arts in a dimension alien to it. Our study focuses on the internal processes that characterised theatres before, during and after the pandemic. We will illustrate how the venues have responded to the enforced closures, what they have done to preserve their communities and audiences, and whether they have acquired valuable knowledge at a level that may be applied in returning them to their former domain.