The celebration of World Theater Day has brought with it more than positive figures for the theaters of Barcelona, ??whose audience has increased by 21% during the first six months of the 2022-23 season compared to the previous one. In total there are 1,864,681 spectators who have attended the shows scheduled in the Catalan capital, with an average occupancy of 60.4%, 4.8 points more than the previous season, and a collection of 60,471,000 euros, 38% more than last year.
The figures were released this Monday during the celebration of World Theater Day that took place in the Beckett room with the presence of representatives of the sector, as well as the Minister of Culture, Natalia Garriga. Isabel Vidal, president of the Associació d’Empreses de Teatre de Catalunya (Adetca), has been in charge of publicizing these audience data, which represent an increase of 9% compared to the pre-pandemic period, positive data that allows us to assume “the dire consequences of the pandemic” have ended, also recovering advance sales and enjoying “a more well-financed system.” Regarding the price of tickets, Isabel Vidal has recognized that there is an increase in the average price of tickets, which is partly explained by the presence on the billboard of more expensive shows that are selling a lot, “which increases the average price”. , as well as the reduction in the number of promotions and discounts, less necessary now that the public has returned to the theaters.
Despite the good figures, Vidal recalled that there are issues in which further progress must be made, such as the recovery of tours and circuits, “very affected” since the economic crisis, and progress in the development of labor agreements in the sector.
For his part, the president of the Association of Professional Actors and Directors of Catalonia (AADPC), Àlex Casanovas, celebrated the approval of measures such as the special unemployment benefit for artists and technicians and the compatibility of retirement with the income that come from the artistic activity, some improvements associated with the approval of the new Artist Statute, which supposes “the recognition of the particularity of our work, of the intermittency”.
Casanovas has highlighted the catharsis that the pandemic brought about for the development of the regulations, as it evidenced the ineffectiveness of the existing regulations at that time to protect artists, forced to leave their jobs during confinement. He was also useful in uniting all the components of the sector in the search for a way out of the great crisis that fell upon them. “We managed to unite businessmen, festival promoters, theater people, technical and technical associations, circus people, dance people, actors, musicians, etc. to all work together demanding protection measures from the central government.”
The commemorative activities of the World Theater Week started on March 20 and end this Monday with a party in the La Paloma room open to all members of the sector. Guillem Albà and La Marabunta will participate in the event, and a dance competition will also be held during the event with the presence of dance professionals such as Coco Comín and Marta Tomasa, among others, as judges. The traditional Critics’ Awards gala remains for April 3, to be held at the Romea Theatre.
