(Photo Credit: Staatstheater Cottbus official website)

The Staatstheater Cottbus has announced the cancellation of all performances in May 2021.

Per an official statement on the company’s website, in view of the persistently high 7-day infection incidence numbers, the opera house was forced to cancel all performances in May 2021.

“Theater thrives on empathy, joy of life, and the ability to perceive new and different perspectives. That horizon has not disappeared in the pandemic, and it appears constantly in our everyday life. This is exactly how we, as theater professionals, are still here: we prepare ourselves and hope, full of anticipation, to welcome our audience in person again soon,” said Intendant Stephan Märki in a press statement.

The Staatstheater Cottbus thus joins a growing list of theaters and opera houses in Germany that have opted to close for an extended period of time due to the lack of visibility and planning possibilities.

German Parliament has adopted changes to the Infection Protection Act, providing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet the power to impose stricter COVID-19 lockdown measures without consultation of the federal states. Cultural venues and leisure facilities must stay closed until the 7-day incidence rate drops below 100 for five consecutive days. The new legislation thus weighs heavily on any prospective reopening of theaters and opera houses in Germany.

The current 7-day incidence in Cottbus stands at 176.6.