You, theatre lovers, are our family. It-s our responsibility to take care of you, because our name itself mentions the word Cleaner." Thus, ran the newspaper ad of Marathi play Vacuum Cleaner on October 18, a random Sunday when Mumbai-s theatre fraternity had no clarity over the Maharashtra government-s official policy on the lifting of lockdown restrictions in the context of government/municipal or private-owned auditoriums in the state. The "soon coming" ad raised hopes and heckles because of the acutely awaited government communique about the operating procedures to revive an industry, which was rendered silent since the COVID-19 outbreak in March. While gyms and restaurants were being reopened phase-wise, the prospect of a stage-facing masked gathering was still perceived as risky.

Interestingly, uncertainty about auditoriums is not over. It is experienced till date—even after the government issued unlock instructions for theatre/cinema halls on November 4—by 35-odd Marathi producers, as well as players in Hindi, English and Gujarati theatre. Stakeholders are clueless about how to tie the loose tangled ends of a business, that has anyway traditionally never made high profits, nor enjoyed institutional/government patronage.