THE restrictions placed on theatre shows in regional NSW areas in the past week as a result of the spread of the coronavirus beyond Sydney have increasingly led to shows being postponed or cancelled in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland and Cessnock.
It was revealed on Tuesday night, for example, that two events that many people were looking forward to seeing had been postponed: The Lost Voice of Anne Bronte, a touring Sydney production which was to have had three performances at Atwea's Creative Arts Space (CAS) Theatre in Hamilton, one on Friday, July 9, and two on Saturday, July 10; and Opera Hunter's La Traviata, that was to have been presented at Warners Bay Theatre, from July 27 to August 1.
This, sadly, is the second year that both shows have been affected by the coronavirus.
The Lost Voice of Anne Bronte, written and directed by Cate Whittaker, who was born in the English city Leeds, had a successful season in Sydney in February last year, with the show intended to have been taken after that to Britain for performances as 2020 was the bicentenary of the birth of Anne Bronte, who was one of the sisters of renowned novelist Charlotte Bronte and also wrote novels. But the coronavirus led to the British presentations being cancelled.
So the Whittaker Players, the company established by Cate Whittaker, decided to tour the play in Australia this year, with short seasons in Canberra, Newcastle and Melbourne before heading off to the UK to perform it in October as part of the restored British season.
While the Canberra shows were very successful last week, the new restrictions on theatre audiences have made it unprofitable for the Whittaker team to bring it to Newcastle in early July.
Newcastle-raised actress Belinda Delaney, who is one of this year's The Lost Voice of Anne Bronte cast members, said they had tried to move the Newcastle shows to late July or early August, but had been told by the CAS team that there would be a seating restriction of only 25 audience members at that time, which would make presenting the show then financially unviable.
"We are therefore looking at running our season hopefully in September/October, to coincide with our Melbourne run," she said.
Opera Hunter's La Traviata, which is also known as The Fallen Woman, is considered to be one of the masterpieces of composer Giuseppe Verdi and one of the most beautiful operas ever composed.
It is the tale of a beautiful and carefree, but dying, courtesan, Violetta, and her tragic love for Alfredo, amid scandal, class divides, and seduction.
Featuring one of the most iconic, romantic and tragic scores of all time, Verdi's masterpiece contrasts spectacular party scenes with tender, intimate moments. Played out against the hypocrisy of upper-class fashionable society, Alfredo and Violetta's love threatens to shame his family, so his father appeals to Violetta to relinquish her one chance of happiness. Will she self-sacrifice?
Opera Hunter had scheduled its 2020 season of the opera for June, with the cast already chosen and having got-together to discuss the show. But, of course, the outbreak of the virus and the restrictions on get-togethers forced it to be shelved.
The imposition of the restrictions last Saturday afternoon forced the cancellation that night of the last performances of two popular shows: St Phillip's Christian College's High School Musical, at the Civic Theatre, and Newcastle Theatre Company's The House of Bernarda Alba, at its Lambton theatre.
Maitland Repertory Theatre also announced on Saturday that it had postponed performances of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, which was due to open on Wednesday this week, until after July 9, which at this point is supposed to be the date when theatres will be allowed to re-open.
Hunter Drama, whose production of Disney's Alice in Wonderland JR featuring youth students from Cessnock classes, was to have been performed at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre on July 9 and 10, has rescheduled to January 21 and 22, 2022, just before the end of the Christmas - New Year school holidays.
Several shows at the Civic Theatre have been rescheduled because of the restrictions.
Comedian Tim Minchin's performances of his show Tim Minchin - Back Newcastle that were listed for Monday and Tuesday, June 28 and 29, are now down for Wednesday and Thursday, September 29 and 30.
And, as the Civic Theatre has noted, masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, with the one person per four square metre rule being re-introduced for all indoor and outdoor settings.
Maitland Repertory Theatre delayed performances of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds until after July 9, with additional performances being added to the season that was to have ended on July 18, to make up for lost show.
As previously noted Newcastle Young People's Theatre had to cancel its July school holidays performances of Bunyips, which was adapted by renowned Newcastle-raised actor, writer and director Callan Purcell from a popular Australian novel and has large casts of young performers, with the company hoping that things will get back together if the restrictions on get-togethers do end, as was initially noted by government officials, after July 9.
