'When the lockdown came, we actually decided right away to continue, but online. So we opened digital studios.' Like so many others, the Hague Theatre House the digital world of Zoom, the app with which Culture Press also records podcasts remotely. 'People rehearse for presentations and performances. We have created a talent environment for that. An online place with films, music, books, beautiful background material in which you can also rehearse at agreed times. It is a great success, right after the first week already.'
One of the special effects of frequent video calling in corona time is that people get over their camera fears: 'It still feels a little weird at first that you're moving alone in your room, while others are watching, but you also know that those others are doing the same thing as you at that moment.' There is another unexpected advantage of zoom culture: 'We also have participants in wheelchairs, and suddenly that limitation falls away, because you only see each other's upper half.'
For the future in the one-half-meter society, Hermes sees possibilities: 'I hope that ticket sales will no longer matter. There needs to be another funding stream so that theatres and spectators can continue to do each other, but with audience occupancy 75% lower than now.'
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