(Credit: https://www.bonn-city.de/)

Theater Bonn has announced the cancelation of the rest of 2020-21 season.

The opera house announced on April 23 that the theater will not perform until after the summer vacation in August 2021. “We are of the opinion that under the current conditions with the lack of planning security, effort and benefit are in no relation to each other, both in artistic and economic terms,” explained the commercial director Rüdiger Frings. “We regret this very much and this decision was not easy for us,” added Frings.

In coordination with the city of Bonn COVID-19 task force, it was decided to shut the theater down until August 2021. “In this way, we can concentrate our energy on creating the conditions for an optimal start of the coming season, hopefully under good conditions for the arts and our audience,” said General Director Bernhard Helmich.

Theater Bonn becomes the second theater in Germany to officially end the current 2020-21 season. Semperoper Dresden canceled the rest of the season in January 2021, but still hopes to present an alternative program that could run until July 2021. Opera houses in Berlin have shut down until June 2021.

German Parliament adopted changes to the Infection Protection Act on April 23, giving Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet the power to impose tougher nationwide measures against COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Lockdown will be imposed on all regions that cross 7-day incidence above 100 for three consecutive days.

The current 7-day incidence in Bonn stands at 198.4.