Dramatic effects of the pandemic
The 74th edition of the German Stage Association's work statistics for the 2020/21 season clearly reflects the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the lockdowns in the reporting year, the number of performances fell by 70% compared to the 2018/19 season, the last season before the coronavirus pandemic. The number of audience members fell by 86%. Across Germany, 2,541,142 theater attendances were reported in the 2020/21 season.
The stages' digital offerings have been greatly expanded: In terms of the number of productions, digital formats account for almost 20 percent of all productions, compared to 10 percent in the previous season. Performance figures for digital offerings were not recorded in the current work statistics. The use of digital formats was also only recorded if tickets were sold or online registrations were made.
In Germany, the proportion of contemporary works has increased significantly. In addition to classics such as "The Magic Flute" and "Faust", the most frequently staged works include numerous very different contemporary works; the comedy "Extrawurst" about integration and structural racism is at the top of the list, followed by Ferdinand von Schirach's "Gott", a discourse drama about the legitimacy of euthanasia.
427 theaters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland reported their data to the editors of "Deutsche Bühne", who collected it and compiled it in performance lists, diagrams and tables with the most frequently performed works, productions and authors.
More info:
https://www.buehnenverein.de/de/presse/pressemeldungen.html?det=645
Picture above (from left to right): Marlies Untersteiner, Markus Weitschacher, Mirko Roggenbock, Gerhard Goebel and Josef Mohamed. Photo: silbersalz
