(Credit: Anna May)

The Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin has canceled the rest of its 2020-21 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic worries.

“Due to the applicable laws and ordinances to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the forecasts for the coming weeks, performances at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin must continue to be suspended. Unfortunately, this means that the 2020-21 season on our stages in the Großer Haus, in the concert foyer, in the E-Werk and in the Parchimer Malsaal will also end early,” stated the opera house on its official website.

The Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin thus joins the Oper Köln, the Semperoper Dresden and Theater Bonn in ending its 2020-21 season.

The German Parliament has adopted changes to the Infection Protection Act, providing the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal government the power to impose drastic COVID-19 measures without consultation of the federal states. Cultural venues and leisure facilities must stay closed until the seven-day incidence rate drops below 100 for five consecutive days. The huge uncertainty originating from the federal legislation thus forces German theaters to consider early end of the 2020-21 season.

The seven-day incidence in Schwerin currently stands at 132.8.