Akademie

Digital Theatre Had 800% Boom During the Pandemic

A major study covering 17 countries by the European Theatre Convention (ETC) and the Academy for Theatre and Digitality finds a huge increase in digital theatre productions and staff during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the form remains divisive for some artistic teams.

(c) Florian Dürkopp

Digital theatre boomed during the lockdowns and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study has found.

Digital Theatre – Strategies and Business Models in European Theatre, a study by the European Theatre Convention (ETC) and the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund, finds that digital theatre ticket sales in Europe were up 772% from 2019-2021 – while regular ticket sales fell by over two-thirds during the same period.

In addition, the research finds that most theatres (80%) believe digital theatre helps train staff in new skills, but that the cost of producing digital theatre remains a major obstacle.

The study is written by Dr. Katie Hawthorne who is an alumnae of the Academy for Theatre and Digitality.

Read the full study