Vanessa Poole was excited for the premiere of her latest drama when news broke that Sweden was finishing the limit to 50 people for cultural events. We spoke with her and two other foreign actors about how the coronavirus has changed lives in the arts.
Vanessa Poole, actor, Malmö
Silvia, the latest production at the PlayMate Theater in Malmo, opened to a small audience of 40 on Thursday night (including 50 actors and backstage staff). And this year was the first performance of the English-language drama cast.
She says;
“We’ve sold out the run, which is amazing. It gives us a purpose that it was the right thing to proceed through and decide to perform now in the autumn. We could have waited until spring, but that would mean that almost two years away from our last performance. That is so long, it loses all momentum, and it loses its listeners.”
She calls the environment electronic in a small audience.
“People want to come because they’ve lost it. I think that’s terrible. They are very excited. I can see that they are happy.
The viewers had to walk straight to their seats without any mixing. They could not get up during the break instead of getting drinks on the seats. The seats were one and a half meters away from each other. A kiss is removed in the play itself, and the primary role is changed.
“Because she plays with the talking dog, there can be a lot of licking. We didn’t do that. Instead, we twisted our hair. “
In practice, the actors have to be careful about the distance from the old actor to not feel threatened.
According to the Poole;
“The epidemic has been very severe for actors like her. It’s been devastating, and I think the workers were accustomed to weird acting, just as devastating. Because there’s no way, they can do it.”
Economically, Poole is protected from the work she does as a voiceover artist. As the company replaces physical encounters with online content, she has been busy during the Coronavirus epidemic.
But she says it’s surprising that cultural events in Sweden have been so controlled.
According to her;
“Eligible theaters can completely impose the rules and regulations. I think it’s possible to do it securely.”