AUTHOR=Dragićević Šešić Milena , Stefanović Milena 

TITLE=Theatre production and cultural policy during the pandemic: Leadership and memory narratives

JOURNAL=European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/european-journal-of-cultural-management-and-policy/articles/10.3389/ejcmp.2022.11082

DOI=10.3389/ejcmp.2022.11082

ISSN=2663-5771

ABSTRACT=The pandemic showed that theatres will be adapting, re-positioning and re-focusing their work through digital means and by using diverse social media tools, in order to stay present and active during the period which will be limiting their models of traditional production and existence. The research explores the rationale behind so called “pandemic production”, digital narratives and main approaches of managers and leaders in the public theatres during the pandemic phase, while noting the lack of cultural policy leadership.  Theatre managers role was of most importance and the pace of adaptation depended on their skills and talent. For all stakeholders, new reality caused by the pandemic opened the horizons of ethics and aesthetics of solidarity, empathy, care, and critical reflections (within theatres and among independent theatre practitioners), while cultural policy makers choose to act as bureaucrats, missing the opportunity to step in with more vision and leadership, which lead to downgrading their role to pure administration.