Flexible thinking replaces old subscription models

The pandemic has forced new ways of thinking, including new approaches to subscriptions and seasons.
The four members of the Australian String Quartet sit under a bridge holding their instruments.

The changes wrought by COVID have been felt far and wide across the sector. While the rise of live-streamed performances has been a welcome and overdue adjustment to business as usual in the performing arts, other impacts – such as rehearsals held via Zoom – have been disruptive and draining.

Similarly, the seemingly endless parade of cancelled and rescheduled productions, which typified 2021, continues to afflict audiences, artists and crew alike, especially as the highly infectious Omicron variant rages across the country.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts