berliner ensemble removes seats from theater to guarantee social distancing

the berliner ensemble, a theater in berlin founded in 1949 by actress helene weigel and her husband, playwright bertold brecht, has released pictures of its stripped-down interior, where most chairs have been ripped out to ensure social distancing. the new layout sees 200 seats instead of the previous 700, ensuring the german government requirements of at least 1.5 meters of safety distance.

images © moritz haase, courtesy of berliner ensemble

extra legroom and no intervals are part of the perks the new berliner ensemble layout will provide to its audience as public spaces around the world restructure themselves to safely host people. ‘we simply could have blocked seats or taken out only entire rows, but that would have looked ghostly,’ artistic director oliver reese told the guardian. ‘we want to create an experience that is special, that will anchor itself in people’s emotional memory.’

as intervals have been supressed, the audience can go to the bathroom whenever they want in order to avoid congestions at these closed spaces. the theater has also said that it will keep a three-meter distance between the stage and the first row while some doors will be kept open to ensure the air keeps circulating. some plays have been postponed because of the amount of actors on stage at the same time while others, like macbeth, have been taken out of the repertoire as it involves acts of kissing.

project info:

name: berliner ensemble

type: social distancing in theaters

location: berlin, germany