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The auditorium at Dalston s Arcola Theatre
- Credit: Lidia Crisafulli
Arcola Theatre is working with Imperial College scientists to investigate air quality and virus transmission in performance spaces.
The collaboration will help the theatre in Ashwin Street, Dalston to decide how to safely reopen its main building, as well as the wider cultural sector to adapt to new ways of working in the pandemic.
The artistic team will work with scientists to look at how air quality in indoor performance spaces might affect aerosol transmission of viruses such as Covid-19 and whether increased air flow might reduce the risks to audiences.
“We also didn’t want to connect with our community – our 60+, mental health or youth theatre groups - behind screens. It’s not very human to me.”
The pandemic has highlighted the fragility of the theatre industry. The Theatre Artists Fund has awarded more than 4,600 emergency grants worth £4.8 million to the army of freelancers and self-employed who make the industry tick.
As part of the Government s Culture Recovery Fund, 24 theatre and arts organisations in Hackney received a total of £4,347,233 including Arcola Theatre (£296,160), Hackney Empire (£585,064) and Grow, Hackney (£247,484).
A further round of funding, closing on January 26, has been announced to support organisations from April to June 2021 acknowledging that Covid-19 will continue to wreak havoc on cultural industries.