Nina Droff 11:50 a.m., March 27, 2023

After the Covid-19 crisis, theatres are facing a new area of turbulence. Inflation weighs down the world of theatre, even as the audience returns to the red seats. The unions are calling on the public authorities to provide an aid plan to support employees in the sector in the face of rising living costs.

A large red curtain that opens and a captivated room. The world of theatre continues to amaze young and old, despite its difficulties in recent years. However, on the occasion of World Theatre Day, the balance sheet is not entirely negative. Especially because in terms of attendance, the recovery is indeed there, the public is at the rendezvous in the theaters.

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"The current season has really started with a bang. And we realize that theatre, which is one of the oldest arts that exists, is something that concerns everyone and continues to function. And that's very reassuring," explains Nicolas Dubourg, president of the union of artistic and cultural companies.

Responding to inflation

However, runaway inflation is a major concern for theatres that are just recovering from the Covid-19 crisis. "This is a crisis that is added to the crisis," regrets Nicolas Dubourg. "Energy costs are obviously a first subject, but we are also in an inflation that impacts employees and therefore, which requires necessary wage increases. But in the current state of the finances of public theaters, we are not able to respond to them at the height of what should be the case," says the trade unionist.

So, to give a boost to employees in the sector, the union is calling for help from the public authorities to deal with this new crisis.