Capri Update

 

May 14, 2021

WHAT NEXT? I took down the Wear A Mask marquee this morning. I assume you have all heard the Center for Disease Control's advisory that vaccinated people may now go about their lives without masks. And I am going to guess 99%+ of you are, if not fully vaccinated, well on the way there. This email is really some thinking out loud and second guessing. Our first goal is to make sure you feel safe coming to our theatre. Since re-opening last November, we have tried to make the Capri theatre as safe as possible for people to attend movies. With the exception of a few outside rentals, people coming to the Capri have been checked, masked and distanced, and have been co-operative with the protocols. Thank you for working with us. Right before our shutdown for projector failure, we were starting to see more of our regulars who had completed their vaccinations coming back to the movies. We look forward to all of you making your way back to the Capri. We still want the Capri to be as safe as possible, but there is very little we can do to protect the unvaccinated from themselves. Barring a legitimate Vaccine Passport, all we can do is ask, and anyone who wants to can lie to us. Masks will no longer be required in the Capri Theatre, but feel free to wear one until you feel safe. If you are not fully vaccinated, please do wear one – for your safety as well as everyone in the theatre.

Social distancing has generally been easy to maintain because we have so few people attending. Now you can sit with your friends if you want. If you still want to keep your distance from people, the formula is two seats on either side of you, and a row in front and in back of you.

We'll be taking down the signs and getting rid of the seat stickers, putting away the plexiglass shield, and increasing the seat availability. But not all at once. The GDC has not issued any specific guidelines for theatres. We want to wait a week or two before pretending none of this ever happened.

As for returning to full-week programming, we need to get the attendance numbers up to make it worthwhile. Our biggest challenge post COVID is figuring out how the motion picture business has changed and what we have to do to survive. I'd hate to have made it through only to collapse at the end.

Here's to a return to normal movie going, and thank you very much for the support as we all struggled through this. I know we've made a difference.

Martin McCaffery

Director

Capri Theatre