The Show Must Go On, Say Belgian Theatre Staff Amid Virus Shutdown

Theatre staff in Belgium left desperate by seemingly unending virus restrictions that have forced them off stage and left seats empty are making their frustrations known

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Apr, 2021 ) :Theatre staff in Belgium left desperate by seemingly unending virus restrictions that have forced them off stage and left seats empty are making their frustrations known.

They are occupying two theatres in Brussels and are threatening to stage unauthorised performances in another.

Their anger over theatres being kept dark with no reopening date is fused with that of other professions -- restaurants, non-essential shops, hairdressers -- which keep seeing prospects for a return to activity pushed back.

"I see people around me with a lot of doubts and uncertainty, and living on the brink too, with friends unable to pay the rent," said Thymios Fountas, a 31-year-old playwright and stage director.

He is part of a group that has taken over a state theatre and concert hall, La Monnaie, for more than a week, using a tactic already seen in neighbouring France.

The venue's management, after negotiations, is allowing 10 of the protesters, including Fountas, to sleep in the theatre until the end of this week. Members of the public are not allowed inside.

"We wanted to occupy the theatre to make a point directly to the government," Fountas said.