Russian Theater Performing For One Spectator At A Time

MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) – Usually it’s the artists for whom a solo is the ultimate prize. Now it is the audience.

Starting this month, Russia’s Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre will stream its performances online and allow just one spectator in the theater to watch in person.

Called “One-On-One,” the project is designed to create a new kind of interaction with the public at a time when a growing number of coronavirus cases are limiting outings and gatherings.

“We are ready to hold performances for one person because in the end … one spectator has the same value as a full house,“ Marat Gatsalov, the theater’s principal stage director, said in a statement.

The theater, located in Perm, an industrial city 1,100 km (680 miles) east of Moscow, said it would shortly be accepting applications for those wanting to attend the performances alone.

It said that one of the performers would choose thespectator in a draw, but that the chosen person would need to be screened by a doctor before entering the theater.

Russia has so far recorded 438 cases of the virus, as well as one coronavirus-related death.

The authorities have barred foreign nationals from entering the country until May in an effort to stop the coronavirus from spreading further, and have canceled or heavily restricted public gatherings.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Alison Williams)