Getting recreation and leisure up and running again.

That was asked yesterday, but the guy said most open air theatres arent doing stuff this year

[I've been giving the question of 'the future' a bit of thought - with a particular slant.....]

Whilst the arts awaits news (as opposed to platitudes about ‘intricate discussions’ that are going on behind closed doors) in response to the very clear request that has been made for enough money to survive in both the short and the long term, one wonders what is going to have to change given the fact that enough will not be enough.



Yes, there’ll be mergers and yes, there’ll be the sad fallings-away of organisations who have long-forgotten their purpose. And, yes, there’ll probably be a re-focussing on the regions which is arguably unnecessary when you consider the fact that the ACE’s subsidy is already pretty-well geographically spread.



I’ve thought for some time that a number of aspects of the arts have been due something of a change. As organisations have reacted and responded, over the last twenty or so years, to ever-changing government directives about being everything from entrepreneurial through to socially responsible, there has arguably been more focus on what goes on offstage than what goes on on.



Now, I’m not of the school of thought that says that arts organisations need to do away with those newly-fangled marketing departments, far from it. However, the RSC have over 50 employees paid in excess of £60k (including 17 at £90k+). The Royal Opera has 45, ENO have 14, the National 35 and SBC 15. That’s a pot of around £14m from five organisations alone. I don’t imagine that there are many actors, musicians or technicians amongst those numbers. I think I’ve just saved all the Orchestras. You’re welcome, Simon Rattle.



Why has this happened? A more ‘outward looking’ and professional approach to running multl-million pound organisations with a nationwide remit and a responsibility to the taxpayer is an absolute necessity. However, has the influx of executives from the corporate and media worlds resulted in bloated ‘back of houses’ that now need lancing?



One often hears of the need to be competitive and to attract the best talent. But have we been fooling ourselves that we need to entice talent from other sectors who actually, on arrival, think that they need amply rewarding for the favour that they think they’re doing us? For every Chief Executive that’s parachuted in from management consultancy and television, you can find one who’s come up through the ranks from stage management or front of house who are often more committed and more in tune with the needs of their organisations whilst paid considerably less than the parachutees.



So – how about this. No-one in the organisation gets paid more than the principal artist on stage? We have true pay parity across the entire organisation not just ‘department by department’? How about we bring talent through the ranks rather than bring in accountants who don’t know their Traviata from their Timon of Athens.



Yes – many of them have nobly taken paycuts in the current crisis. But it might be time to think about whether that second home in the country is actually at the expense of that extra performance of Tennessee Williams.



And what of those outreach, innovation and enterprise departments? Firstly, yes, pay parity with rank and file violinists and spear-carriers. Secondly, let’s have a think about whether it’s right to have administrations who outnumber our acting companies. And finally, the ACE have to consider the possibility that their approach of didactic tickboxing coupled with pretentious of the laissez faire has resulted in, one might argue, an arts world that has forgotten, in some quarters, that one of the most effective ways of promoting art is art itself – invested in, supported, enabled and served by a team who are as passionately dedicated to delivering it as the artists themselves.



There will not be enough money. Things will change. Let’s make sure they change in a way that benefits artists and audience – the key players in these creative industries – and that means, as soon as it’s possible, delivering as much live performance as we can muster by whatever means necessary. Let’s put every penny that we can on stage.

And let's be honest, it's never going to happen. 

I think I want theatres to be a bit more open about their situations.


Social distancing is not going to go away. Theatres and producers must know by now if they can and will be putting shows on and opening theatres with those restrictions or if it's not viable. If it's not viable they should come out and say that and make clear they will only be re-opening when social distancing is no longer needed, rather than announcing random 1 or two months extensions to their closures when it's clear that nothing is going to change and it will keep just getting extended.

You have Julian Bird saying that no theatre can operate with the 2m rule or even the 1m rule yet you have theatres only announcing closures until August and you have theatres still having shows on sale for September onwards and theatre still encouraging people to buy tickets for Christmas shows and the like.


I see no reason why theatres cannot tell us here and now whether, when they they are allowed to open (in a covid safe way), they will be doing so and their shows will be going ahead, or not. They must know.

The cynic in me suggests it’s cash flow. Whilever the ticket money is in their bank and not back in our pockets they’re afloat. I suspect that’s the reason for the very controlled flow of refunds, extended delays in dealing with them, the ‘you won’t see it in your bank for 14 days” thing etc. Cash in the bank allows them to continue operating. 

I promise you, they don’t.

I’m in a lot of Zooms with artistic directors, and there is still so much confusion, multiple contingency plans, and maybes/buts/ifs being discussed. I know what direction several theatres are leaning towards, but there’s just too much uncertainty to start making firm promises or public statements.

And your very question assumes a hypothetical which probably will never exist. You can safely assume all theatres want to and are trying to re-open and get back to normal as soon as it’s safe, but what does “COVID safe” mean? It very possibly won’t be “safe” until a vaccine has been produced and widely disseminated, which could take a year or more. But theatres won’t survive that. The government has been worse than useless. Even if the government announces that theatres are allowed to re-open it likely won’t be safe to do so.

And re-opening is a delicate balance of time/finances/potential seats. If theatres are allowed to re-open in September they might have enough money left in the coffers to start rehearsals for previously scheduled shows straight away. If they aren’t able to re-open till Jan they probably won’t. Best case scenario they might have to find and programme a much cheaper show. They might have to do paid digital shows for a bit, or certain theatres are discussing re-opening purely as a food and drink venue to get the income ball rolling and to fill in the gap until it’s safe to start performances again. No one can predict government advice or how it will affect re-opening. For example if the government reduces the 2m rule to 1m, that hugely affects seating plans and by extension potential number of tickets available. A lot of financial plans are being re-written right now to accommodate for a reduction from 2m to 1m. Though to be honest most theatres would not be able to operate with seats 1m apart because they’d lose so much money. Some theatres are exploring alternate options like potentially staging outdoor work during July-Sept then going dark again over winter. All sorts of “what if we...” being thrown about.

So many options and so much confusion. I wish it was a case of “the minute Boris says the word, we’ll get the actors back into the rehearsal room” but it isn’t and it can’t be.

Sorry to be bleak.

Do we know what the difference is between schools going back en mass and other sizeable gatherings? It can't be age becasue the children go home to adults.

Indeed.

And the government haven't said social distancing is mandatory. They have just said when you can't, you should take extra measures.

The aviation industry is attempting to re-start this month and they are not doing distancing. Even the middle seat which was at first suggested would be left empty is being sold!

I think theatre is frightened that nobody will come.
They could just plan to open in September without distancing. Keep the bars closed, open auditorium at same time as building and make masks mandatory. Hand gel everywhere. Quick temp scan on the door maybe (not massively evidence based but seems to reassure people). Shock horror, they might even be forced to make the loos bigger. They've struggled for decades. Buy these are unprecedented times. If a Nightingale hospital can go up in 5 minutes, am sure loo capacity can increase.
I don't think the government would actually stop them opening. (Although don't get me wrong - I get that while this is vague, theatres would not want to take the risk).

Then punters can vote with their feet and decide if they would be comfortable with what theatres are offering. 

If Bluewater Shopping Centre can open on 15 June, the tubes, buses and trains are running without distancing, airlines can sell tickets, then theatres can open. The government has to get off the fence and say under what conditions it is deemed safe.

The theatre industry can then decide if they want to open commercially, and punters can decide on their personal level of risk.

Sorry to be the France bore but, but we have 2,000 cinemas opening on 22 June with a 50% capacity cap, and one seat empty either side of a booking group. People can decide if they want to go but it's a start. No temp checks. Mask wearing until you are in your seat to protect as people move through the theatre.

I'd feel safer in a well-run theatre or cinema than on a Saturday at Bluewater tbh.

There's a big speech on Sunday evening by President Macron which will say more getting France up and running and is likely to give more guideance about mass gatherings.

I do wonder if there is.

It goes without saying that the government have not supported theatre as much as they should. It is wrong and it is sad.
And I have seen some very well written articles about how problematic this lack of support is. I think we can all agree on that.

However the most recent Sam Mendes article, whilst it was well written, was ultimately just asking for money.
Fair enough, but at the same time at least come up with some proposals of how to re-open.

The virus isn't going anywhere. I'd love nothing more than an effective, safe, cheap, mass produced vaccine to lift us out of this. But I don't think that's gonna come in time to save the theatre industry if things don't progress. My own opinion is that we must learn to live with the virus. In the most sensible but pragmatic way we can.

Theatres are being crippled by a lack of income. Well. How about plan to open in September and sell some tickets!
I'm being slightly flippant - yes of course it is incredibly complicated and very very difficult - I do get that.

But in this country we don't seem to be seeing any ambition from anywhere to at least TRY things. There are producers who are wealthy enough to start experimenting. You know, pick one show and one theatre and see what can be done. 

Things are way ahead of us in Europe. 

Ask for government money yes. But come up with some plans on how we can do something. Whatever shape that may take.

That's what's been bothering me. Far too many people are sitting back and expecting the government to tell them what to do, when they really ought to be using the relaxation of restrictions to come up with their own ideas because they understand their own situation far better than anyone else does. We need ingenuity, not people complaining about the government with one breath while expecting them to solve all their problems with the next. In the early days it was heartening to see how many people managed to transfer at least some of what they were doing to the Internet, but now all innovation seems to have dried up.