Broadway is dark. London is quiet. But in Australia, it's showtime

Sydney

AUSTRALIA, normally a secondary market for big-brand shows developed in New York and London, has become an unexpected pandemic pioneer: a model and a test case for the global theatre industry. Now producers on Broadway and the West End are watching the Australian rebound with envy, hope and a desire to learn what works as a kneecapped art form tries to get back on its feet.

Much has changed. Actors are greeted at some theatres by robots that take their temperatures. Patrons must scan QR codes as they register for contact tracing upon arrival, and they are admitted at staggered times so they can be seated by row. After the final ovations, actors skip the familiar stage door selfie sessions with fans.

Australia has been far more successful at containing the virus than either the United States or Britain, mostly because it adopted strict safety protocols and people have followed public health advice.

Over the past week, Australia has averaged fewer than one daily case per 100,000 people, according to a New York Times database, while Britain has averaged 15 and the United States 21. The raw numbers are even starker: Australia averaged a total of only six new coronavirus cases a day over the past week, while the United States averaged 69,483.

Now British and American producers are stuck waiting for vaccines to be rolled out in their countries. In the West End, some shows are hoping to reopen in the spring, and on Broadway, fall seems more likely - while in Australia, shows were able to open long before anyone was vaccinated.

Ticket sales are strong, suggesting that theatre lovers are eager to return, and willing to spend money. The momentum has been building since Australia's theatre industry began lobbying for a return back in June. Some productions got government incentives to reopen, and the industry created its own nationwide coronavirus safety plan with public health researchers to persuade officials that theatres, as a whole, would not make the pandemic worse.

The first productions to open here last fall felt awkward, as government guidelines required 4 square meters per person, leaving many seats empty. Now some theatres in Sydney and Melbourne can fill up to 85 per cent of their seats. NYTIMES