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How Darlinghurst’s entertainment precinct is adapting to a pandemic PAGE 1-2
BY RIDA BABAR n light of the COVID-19 restrictions, entertainment venues in Darlinghurst have been forced to shift their business models and operations. Here’s how. Darlinghurst Theatre Company (DTC) has implemented a series of Red Carpet Cabaret shows that have been a major success. Amylia Harris, the co-artistic director at the DTC provided insight into how the DTC has adapted and remained afloat during these uncertain times in an interview with City Hub. When asked what the inspiration behind the cabaret shows were Harris said, “We were shut down on opening night of [the new production] A Chorus
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Line, so we had to find ways to adapt and survive. “Red Carpet Cabaret was a part of finding innovative ways to adapt business models and create audience experiences specifically for this moment. It was a really fantastic and hugely successful experience, we sold out the entire season.” When asked whether this cabaret will continue post-COVID Harris said, “Yes, it’ll exist in a different form. It was put together quickly, within restrictions, and I’m a firm believer that creativity exists within the parameters that you’ve been set. When we start it after this, I hope that we will be able to have more nights, different art forms and make it a hub. “Being one of the first live venues to actually put on a show weighed a little
heavy on my shoulders because if we didn’t do it right and audiences lost faith, they would lose faith in theatre in general. “We had a lot of patrons write emails thanking us for our diligence and safety precautions.” When asked what the most difficult part of adapting to life during a pandemic was Harris said, “There’s a lot of emotional fatigue in the industry at the moment. A lot of people are finding it difficult to still find ways to create, which has been hard to navigate. “Personally, the hardest part for me was grieving the loss of the industry as we know it.” Another venue, The Magician’s Cabaret is both a cabaret and bar with a Parisian theme that encompasses
storytelling, song, and dance tied together with candlelit dinners. The venue, staying true to its level of flair, chose ‘the dance of the audience,’ which is essentially a creative means of enforcing COVID-safe protocol. The process is essentially a ‘sequence of steps and movements’ which includes reading safety signs, visitors’ temperatures being checked on arrival, hand sanitisation, kicking open bathroom doors using feet, visitors arriving and moving row by row to maintain social distancing. They re-emerged with this protocol on June 1, when restrictions lifted, and used these measures to remain COVIDsafe, and successfully did so. Continued on page 2