COVID-19 stuns struggling theater industry

Officials disinfect the Baek Seonghui & Jang Minho Theater in central Seoul in this May 21 file photo. Confirmed COVID-19 infections cases and people who were in contact with them caused the cancelation of many theatrical performances last weekend. Korea Times file

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Amid the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the fallout from the pandemic dealt another blow to Korea's theatrical performances at the weekend, causing the cancelations of major shows including "Rent" and "Kinky Boots."

The Korean productions of "Rent” and “42nd Street,” which were to close Sunday, had to close down a day early as each production had a performer in the cast who had come into secondary contact with someone with COVID-19.

"Kinky Boots," also canceled its weekend shows as one of the cast came into contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19, a day after opening Friday. The actor tested negative, but will be quarantined for two weeks while the show resumes Tuesday, producer CJ ENM said in a statement.

As many actors participate in two or more shows at the same time, the aftermath snowballed, resulting in many shows being canceled, including, "Ludwig: Beethoven the Piano," "Nanseol” (Orchid Snow), "The Ghost Basketball Team" and "Times for Dogs and Cats."

The theater industry here has been lauded as one of the success stories amid the COVID-19 pandemic as Korea was one of the few countries where musicals and plays continued to be staged, albeit with extra safety measures.

When an actor of the touring production of "The Phantom of the Opera" was infected with COVID-19 in late March, the show was halted for two weeks as other cast and crew were tested and went into quarantine. Only one actor was infected within the company, but no audience members contracted the virus as the theater maintained a two-meter distance between the stage and the audience.

Theaters have since been relatively safe from droplet infection as everyone is required to wear a mask and people mostly watch the performance without talking to each other at length.

However, actors rehearse and perform without wearing masks and they are more prone to mass infections, proven by the San Theater case. The troupe, which was to stage its productions of "Jjamppong" and "Cow" from Aug. 19 to 30, had reported 34 COVID-19 cases among its members and acquaintances as of Monday.

The troupe's first case Seo Sung-jong was confirmed Wednesday and all members of the troupe were tested for the coronavirus and went into self-quarantine. The production of KBS's rom-com series "To All the Guys Who Loved Me," in which Seo also stars, was halted as well. Actors Heo Dong-won and Kim Won-hae, who were in San Theater, were also infected with the coronavirus.

Another troupe Theater Miin also canceled its play “Why, Bye” as six out of 17 members were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.

More shows are canceling this week's performances to cope with the government's measures to prevent any further spread of the coronavirus.

Producers of the musical "Bballae" (Laundry) announced Monday that performances from Wednesday through Sunday will be canceled.

"We were going to applying socially distanced seating starting this week, but we concluded that preemptive measures are more important to prevent COVID-19 and so we are canceling this week's shows," the musical's production company CH Soobak said in an announcement.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" at the LG Arts Center and "Something Rotten!" staged at the district-owned Chungmu Arts Center, also canceled August performances.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, the theater industry is grappling with social-distancing measures.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Seoul Metropolitan Government closed down public theaters Aug. 16 after a new church-linked coronavirus outbreak and urged private theaters to apply socially distanced seating.

"Most shows reach their break-even point at around 60 percent to 70 percent of the theater's capacity. With the socially distanced seating, production companies can only sell about 50 percent of the seats, making shows unfeasible," an industry insider said.