The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the American Guild of Musical Artists, two unions representing different sectors of the theatrical performing arts, have released their AGMA/SDC Return to Stage and Performing Arts Playbook. It is a guide to help performing arts venues craft a reopening plan so that AGMA artists and SDC Members can safely rehearse and perform on-site. The guidelines include regular COVID-19 testing, distancing between all individuals, and masks on everyone, even performers.
AGMA covers singers, dancers, and workers in opera, choral performance, and concert dance, while SDC covers stage directors and choreographers. “Ensuring a safe return to work is now at the forefront of our work even as we continue to navigate the devastating impact of the pandemic on our members and the industry at large. The forced closure of performance spaces across the country led us to this collaborative effort with AGMA and our medical experts and the result is this Playbook,” said Laura Penn, executive director of SDC, in a statement. “It has already proved invaluable in working with employers and in educating our Members about what getting back to work safely will look like. We will continue to support the memberships of SDC and AGMA with refinements to the Playbook as new information comes to light.”
The 43-page Playbook recommends that producers reopen in different levels, to mirror some states’ staged reopening plans. A level one reopening, which is contingent on the local government permitting reopening of performance venues, means limited activities with very few people. Levels two to four is a gradual increase in the number of staff and performers on-site. And a level five is a return to normal. It is recommended that producers spend at least two weeks on every level and going from level to level is also contingent on the infection rates in the venue’s city and state.
First Indoor Theater Performances Since COVID Shutdown Get Equity Greenlight When a venue is beginning to reopen, the guidelines recommend masks worn by everyone, including performers. If masks can’t be worn by singers or dancers, the performers should be even more distant from each other, and “additional space should be considered.” It encourages at least a 100-feet-radius around every dancer during rehearsal and performance, and at least 200-square-feet around individual singers indoors since aerosol droplets from singing have been proven to be a high transmitter of COVID-19.
The Playbook also recommends grouping people into “pods” so they only interact with each other and not with other pods—so if anyone tests positive for COVID-19, it will only impact that pod instead of the entire company. The venue should also have a regular testing and contact tracing plan in place.
The guidelines also include having a designated COVID-19 supervisor, who is not a stage manager or a producer staffer, to oversee that the safety plan is adhered to and to respond if health issues arise. According to the guidelines, “audiences are excluded in early levels of reopening but when they do return, the wearing of masks is required.”
“From the onset of this life-changing pandemic, the economic security, health, and safety of our members have been top of mind. AGMA, SDC, and our medical experts are extremely proud of our Playbook, as it helps to address the unique risks of singing, dancing, stage managing, choreographing, and directing,” said Len Egert, national executive director of AGMA in a statement. “Our Playbook was initially intended as an internal tool for AGMA and SDC, but we are happy to make it widely available to the industry at large because we are all in this together.”
SDC and AGMA have been working with medical experts Dr. Mark Cunningham-Hill, Dr. Steven J. Anderson, and Dr. Laura S. Welch since June on the guidelines. “SARS-CoV-2 poses particular risks for the performing arts and a science and data-driven approach is required to bring performances back that are safe for all involved,” said Cunningham-Hill in a statement. “Collaborating with AGMA and SDC has allowed us to provide a common message so everyone understands the part they play in achieving that goal.”
In addition to the Playbook, AGMA and SDC have created a series of webinars for the unions’ members, each focusing on the unique challenges of specific disciplines, including dancing, singing, directing, and choreography. Over 1,000 members have participated to date in these in-depth presentations and discussions.
Other unions representing performing arts workers, including Actors’ Equity Association and IATSE, have released their own guidelines for re-opening.