(Credit: Deutsche Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar official website)

Deutsche Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar has announced that it will remain closed until June 2021.

Per an official press release, the theater’s management noted that it is exploring options to stage the premiere of Bizet’s “Carmen” on May 8, as well as the premiere of Plenzdorf’s “Legende von Paul and Paula” on May 28, 2021. However, the final decision will be made if the epidemiological conditions allow it. The theater’s management is in close contact with the city’s authorities and is examining the possibility of performing the two productions in May as a model experiment with a limited number of spectators.

Germany is undergoing a fierce third wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly infectious and aggressive new SARS-CoV-2 variants. The German government will apply a universal emergency brake throughout the whole territory of Germany; the Infection Protection Act will require regions that log seven-day incidence rate above 100 for three consecutive days to go into lockdown.

The current 7-day incidence rate in the German federal state of Thüringen stands at 232.2, while the 7-day incidence rate in Weimar stands at 161.