Sweet Land and COVID-19

Note: there’s a more recent post on this topic.

A letter from Yuval:

Dear Friend,

We are humbled by the ecstatic response that Sweet Land has elicited in the press and among our audiences — since our last update, we received acclaim in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and LA Weekly.

Yet we are also, like you, concerned about the health and safety of our audience and our artists. We are following the spread of the coronavirus in this country and listening to The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health on their guidelines, which currently state that there is no need to cancel public gatherings. 

We are continuing on with performances, not in a spirit of defiance or making light of the seriousness of the situation. Instead, we have four main reasons for not canceling our performances:

1. The County has not yet recommended the cancellation of public gatherings below 300 people; Sweet Land has an audience capacity of 200 (plus the 100 artists and crew members who are on-site for the performance), making the gathering at this performance significantly smaller than some of the other music/cultural events being canceled at this time.
   
   
2. The performance takes place outdoors in open-air structures. No food or drink is being served on the premises.
   
   
3. We have no option of postponing or rescheduling this production. Part of the beauty of Sweet Land, and all live performances, is its ephemerality. But that also means that the logistics involved in bringing this group of people is defined by this window of time, with all of its uncertainties and anxieties. 
   
   
4. It is not an exaggeration to state that canceling performances jeopardizes the existence of our company. Even after so many generous donations from individuals across the country, Sweet Land is relying on box office to help pay the bills for this production. Fear of the disease has already taken a very difficult toll on our box office goal; canceling altogether would certainly mean very unfortunate measures.

With that in mind, unless the County changes its guidelines for outdoor gatherings under 300 people, we will continue with performances of Sweet Land as scheduled through March 22 — but we will need everyone’s help to keep the park as safe as possible, read on to learn more.

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Staying safe at Sweet Land

Sweet Land is continuing with performances in our open-air environment, but we are committed to taking every precaution we can to ensure it is as safe as possible. Scientists are saying that COVID-19 is not an airborne virus but is primarily communicated through direct contact — therefore we are asking for every audience member’s help in making sure audiences and artists are safe throughout our run: 

1. If you are not feeling well, PLEASE STAY HOME and gift your tickets to friends or family. We regret that we cannot offer refunds for tickets, but if you know you cannot use your tickets, we can turn your ticket purchase into a tax-deductible donation to The Industry, and offer your space to audience members who otherwise might not be able to afford to attend the opera.
   
   
2. Wear gloves to the performance — first of all, for your comfort as the evening air can be cool, and secondly, to make sure any contact will be restricted to those gloves. Consider putting those gloves in a bag once you leave the site and washing them upon returning home. If you don’t have gloves, we have hand-washing stations on site for you to use upon arriving and leaving the state park. If you need some more info, here is a link to the CDC’s videos on handwashing: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/videos.html
   
   
3. Refrain from touching your face or anyone else’s face throughout your time at the state park. Here’s an article we love: https://nyti.ms/2Ijghgd
   

Thank you for helping the show go on!