In terms of organization, De Liefde meets the two new Massine cabaret auditions Unfamiliar area For all requirements that will apply from Saturday 25th September. The 120 evening visitors must be able to show a Corona ticket upon entry and all have a fixed seat. But under these conditions, the theater can now receive a maximum of 80 spectators.

The municipality of Haarlem informed the theater on Wednesday evening that a fine of 2,500 euros can be expected if you go over the maximum allowed on both nights. If a violation occurs on Thursday, the municipality will impose a penalty. “You should see it as a warning,” says a municipality spokesman. If De Liefde breaks the rules again on Friday, he has to pay.

In recent days, the theater has been looking for other solutions in consultation with the municipality, but none of them have been satisfactory. The theater does not want to cancel a third of its visitors shortly before the show. “It is no longer possible to organize a live broadcast now,” said Simon Linsink, De Liefde’s secretary. We would like to thank the municipality for its contribution, but we have made it clear that we will stick to the original plan. We call it silent protest.

Last Friday, the theater informed people who bought a ticket for Theo Maassen that they were all welcome to the show. Reactions to this decision were mainly positive. “Those who didn’t feel comfortable with it could get their money back, but no one handed over their tickets,” says Linsink. Some of the public may be willing to pay the fine.

Full house, don’t mind

According to the theater, Theo Maasin fully supports the plan. “Before we implemented that plan, we asked if he’d like to park in front of a full house,” says Linsink. He did not object to it.”

Government policy on Corona can depend on less and less understanding in the world of culture and the juvenile sector. On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, The Hague and Maastricht to take part in the Unmute Us Demonstration, a Dutch festival and industry event.

Linsink says De Liefde, a theater that has only been open since May, has been annoyed by the government’s faltering policy throughout its existence. Regulations change all the time. For an organization as small as ours, but also for the rest of the cultural Netherlands, it is impossible and impossible to follow.