Online Theatre’s A Trend Now. Will It Sustain After Covid-19?
Can theatre flourish without one of its key elements—a live audience?
Live audiences and stage performances were and will remain integral for the live arts. But that was before the Covid-19 outbreak, when large audiences could sit inside auditoriums and cinema halls without fear or scepticism.
Theatre is making a tentative venture into the digital world. And theatre personalities are tackling this challenge by replicating the stage on our laptops and mobile phones, knowing well that nothing can match the experience of a live performance.
Ticket-booking platforms like BookMyShow are collaborating with production firms to put out quality content. But what are the challenges associated with online theatre?
Actor Danish Husain thinks while the digital transition has widened theatre’s reach, it might also make it an elite art form as access to the internet is dependent on one’s ability to spend, thus potentially ring-fencing it from thousands of people.
Theatre will indeed make it back to a stage with live audiences, according to Albert Almeida, chief operating officer for live entertainment at BookMyShow. But a hybrid model where the same performance is recorded and streamed across the globe will also exist, he said.