Guess what? It's #TDSThursday! In ten min, we'll start talking about what the current 'back to normal' feels like and debating ways of making theatre in a physically distant world. Registration for the Zoom now closed, but you can follow this thread to join the convo!

Today's host is @jenbites. We're starting with welcoming and introductions.

Gauging interest from the participants re continuing to make theatre online and/or moving back to the 'real' world. What exactly is the normal? Also talking about anxiety abt reopening theatres in England.

There's an acknowledgement that we are all multitaskers here and a recommendation for the playwrights in the chat to check out @PITLOCHRYft and @Pwrightsstudio writers' rooms for opportunities to keep developing while in isolation.

We don't honestly know when we'll be able to do something live again, but we don't want to do work that is 100% online, so some of us are thinking of blending approaches.

Participants now talking about the difficulties of navigating relationships within venues with furloughed staff whose hands are tied. Staff getting emails with suggestions from audiences and artists but can't effectively do anything about it.

Expressions of frustration managing expectations from all sides and trying to balance the books at the same time. Very hard to plan ahead at the moment.

How do you rebuild? How do you maintain trust with the audiences? If we reopen and theatres are identified as transmission hotpots and we lock down again, how do we come back from that?

There is a lot of thinking still needed. Is the physical space of the theatre safe? The stage, the curtains, wings, dressing room could be infected surfaces. We're seeing a lot of talk about audience safety, but what about the perfomers/crew?

Guidelines are very complex atm and insurers are trying to figure it all out as well. As an example, ballroom classes are allowed because ppl always stay with the same partner, but salsa isn't because there's a partner switcheroo during the dances.

Bearing in mind there's different guidelines between Scotland and England. Question now is how many people are allowed in a rehearsal room together?

Mention of proposals for making a whole cast a 'bubble' that live and work together and don't interact with anyone else for the duration of the project. Questions about the logistics and practicalities of touring and booking accommodation for a bubble as such.

Colleges were told they were allowed a third of the room capacity in rehearsals. Uncertainty about the number of households we're allowed to interact with atm.

Sentiment of frustration expressed at a lot of published opinions coming from people who don't actually make work or don't make work on little or no funding, overlooking the lack of infrastructure.

Throwback to our outdoor theatre chat a few weeks ago. It's a lovely idea, but look at us in Scotland... It's July and we're wearing our woolly socks and fleecy jumpers and permanently attached to our umbrellas.

We understand champing at the bit to get back to work but we also enjoy breathing with full lung capacity. The virus has not been eradicated, we must bear that in mind. Would much rather pay ppl to stay at home for longer and then go back slowly when it really is safe to do so.

Questions about people who have already gone back to being in a room together and whether that was a free choice or they just had to because there was no other option.

Questions also raised about the investment in PPE and infrastructure to be used for maybe one or two years and then what...?

Concern expressed for FOH staff who will have to deal with crap from the mask-opposing, hand sanitiser denying public.

We're being asked to take an awful lot of gambles at high stakes and no one feels adequately supported atm.

Freelance voices aren't being heard and are being asked to take the daily risks. There are good groups trying to rectify that, of course... @FreelancersMake, the @FreelanceTForce, @TheatreCTA, @indartsprojects, ourselves... But there are no answers just now.

We've been trying to find out more about the German and Spanish models of going back to work, bearing in mind that in both countries the subsidy is considerably greater than in the UK.

Still, that covers big theatres and opera houses. We don't know how small, indie companies and artists are being supported in those countries either.

Question asked about venues using their cafés/bars to leverage income and coax the audiences back in. Maybe open the catering bit first?

Agreement that a second lockdown would really be the kiss of death for many organisations, big and small. Waiting is wiser.

Question: if it was absolutely certain that we can't go back to live performance until the end of next year, what would you do?

One participant says Plan B. Stick to the day job and keep reading scripts and having chata with people to keep the artistic fulfilment going.

Another participant says they feel there is a lot more to explore in the digital medium, so they would dedicate themselves to find that out.

We have seen a lot of new work responding to the current situation thematically but not so much to the format. Reminder that Zoom isn't the only tool for online exchanges.

Example from people who play D&D online and combine software for world building.

Overall positive reactions to access to archive material during lockdown. Hope is that theatres will be more flexible with this going forward as it has been useful for practitioners to access footage of performances that happened before they were born, or that they couldn't >

> access due to financial/geographical constraints. Understanding of the contractual issues involved and hoping that from now clauses can be put in contracts that serve that purpose.

Acknowledgment that while there's clear benefits to exploring technologies and online platforms, this is a spin-off, new medium, which isn't 'theatre'.

Concerns re access to technology as well. The UK guidelines suggested projecting scripts on a screen instead of having print copies for actors in rehearsal, but how many rehearsal rooms do we regularly use that have a projector and screen that doesn't come at an extra cost?

What are the many ways that a rehearsal room might look like? If one actor gets sick and agrees to isolate but be zoomed in, for example, do they feel too detached? Do you recast? Do you pull the project?

Some rooms don't even have WiFi or have low bandwidth. Some scepticism towards a blended approach for rehearsal. Keeping digital and live separate until we figure the live bit out suggested as a more productive way forward.

Theatre is time-consuming and expensive to make at the best of times. This situation is just heightening that.

Suggestion to involve more people with disabilities in the decision-making process. They can provide great insight in terms of not looking at where we have been, but where we are at now. Understanding how to make things that weren't made for you work for you.

Back to normal is what most people seem to be working towards, but the 'normal' wasn't working for many. Now is the time to decentre.