But the revival of the arts industry, which has been battered by the pandemic in the last two years, is not unfolding without a hitch.
The NAC scheme, which has received more than 30 applications since its launch last month, would lift the limit on the number of performers that can be unmasked on stage and allow full capacity audiences so long as they are fully vaccinated and get a negative result for an antigen rapid test. He added that if the group were to apply for approval under NAC’s pilot scheme, which requires all audience members to undergo PET, it would cause an issue.
“We have had numerous starts and stops in the last two years. We have returned tickets and shifted tickets, it has been exhausting,” he said. Things are also starting to look up for Ms Neetasha Zam Zam, 27, who has returned to the industry after quitting her administrative job. Though it has only been a week since she took up theatre calls, the staging technician said her colleagues have been “busier than ever”, working on back-to-back shows.
This was the case for Mr Juhari Adam, 45, who had found another job in healthcare when the closure of theatres took a toll on his income for six months in 2020. This is after a weary two years, where she worked as a delivery rider, started a home-based business and started teaching arts education. Ms Kuo Jian Hong, artistic director of The Theatre Practice, said: “In the last two years, we lost a lot of people. People left the industry and people have changed their profession or speciality.