San Francisco Theatremakers Respond to Equity Guidelines on Safe and Healthy Theatre Production

San Francisco theatremakers are responding to Actors Equity's released set of guidelines on how to support safe and healthy theatre production amidst the pandemic.

Last month, Equity and Dr. David Michaels released the following guidelines:

- The epidemic must be under control, with effective testing, few new cases in the area and contact tracing.

- Individuals who may be infectious can be readily identified and isolated, with frequent, regular and accurate testing with speedy results.

- The way we audition, rehearse, perform and stage manage may need to change and the venues we work in may need to undergo changes in order to reduce the risk.

- Efforts to control COVID-19 exposure must be collaborative, involving Equity members, employers, the union and all others involved in the production of theatre. There must be collective buy-in and ongoing evaluation and improvement of health and safety practices.

"Clearly, we're not bringing anybody back to work anytime soon in person, based on those guidelines," Aurora Managing Director Julie Saltzman Kellner told The San Francisco Chronicle. "To be honest, we weren't anyways. They are really similar to the guidelines we had set out for ourselves, in terms of when we imagined we could produce again."

Susi Damilano, producing director at San Francisco Playhouse, also responded. She said that the guidelines "include the same precautions and safety measures we would put in place for staff and audience as well. The bigger question is: How long will this last? Are we making accommodations for six months or forever?"

Read more on The San Francisco Chronicle.