Getting recreation and leisure up and running again.

Italy is currently allowing 200 spectators for indoor seated events (concerts, plays) and 1,000 for outdoors (also seated).    A summary of their guidelines:
www.italia.it/es/informacion-util/linee-guida-per-la-riapertura-delle-attivita-economiche-e-produttive/cinema-e-spettacoli-dal-vivo.html

So I can't see why UK can't permit seated outdoor events against similar guidelines but they'll have to get a move on to catch the summer weather.

I suspect part of the answer is that reserves of cash are so low that they just haven’t got the money they’d need to get the experiments up and running, so unless they can be profitable enough to tempt an investor it’s not feasible.

Which is why they need government investment - to be repaid later, in the Mendes ‘Angel’ Scheme, once productions are profitable again.

I realise this post will go down poorly, but I am taken aback by the posts here. What on earth have we done, as an industry, to create such distrust? So many statements based on negative and unfounded assumptions.

Please remember that "theatre" is not a monolith. Theatre is made up of many dozens of buildings, all run by human beings, who all have different opinions and approaches and different attitudes towards risk. Some artistic directors (for example who have lost parents to COVID, and who run theatres with an older audience demographic) are extremely cautious and are determined to put lives above profit. On the flipside I know one artistic director who has declared intention to open their building the second they are legally allowed to, and one AD who nearly re-opened illegally and had to be talked out of it. There is no consensus and there won't be any consensus. If I repeated some of the things I've heard in AD Zooms this week it would shock you and would silence all the "why are you sitting back waiting to be told what to do" critics instantly.


It honestly breaks my heart seeing posters talking about "lack of ambition" or "innovation has dried up" or "need to stop mourning and start doing". Do posters genuinely believe that artistic directors and other industry leaders and taskforce members are lazy and that we're all sitting on our arses with our hands stuck out passively waiting for the government to tell us what to do? Why the three taskforces then? I look at my colleagues and friends, and I can honestly say industry leader I know is working themselves to death using "innovation" and "ambition" and "creativity" to come up with the proposals and action plans you're castigating us for not doing. Do you really think there's a single suggestion that's been made here that theatres haven't been discussing for weeks?


Every single theatre that I know of has at least three detailed proposals (with financial breakdowns, risk assessments, etc. etc.) for re-opening, and probably half a dozen more creative or outlandish ideas for re-opening. Two of my closest friends have more or less halted all their own work and are now working more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week, writing the financial proposal and having meetings with the Treasury. I bet in a year when fans find out their favourite TV shows have been delayed those same friends will be called lazy. Not lazy, spending every waking minute trying to save the industry that birthed their careers. Important too to note that the financial proposal the group of individuals (representing one of the three taskforces set up in May to represent the theatre industry to the government) are preparing to submit to the Treasury is an investment, and not a bailout.

It can, but it wouldn't save the industry. Every West End theatre has tens of workers and vast majority of them will be made redundant by the end of July without the support from government. Theatre is literally on its knees at the moment and everyone who loves it should support it in every possible way.

[quote author="londonpostie" source="/post/351820/thread" timestamp=

Why can't that type of production go ahead now with social distancing?[/quote]


Because it’s still illegal.

Currently it’s illegal for non-essential shops to open and to invite non-household members into your house. The ‘bubble’ rules are not in effect until next week, and that’s only for one single-adult household to mix with another household.

It’d be illegal even to put people from separate households into a rehearsal space together.

Sorry, couldn't get the quote function to work!

Indeed opening up is still not allowed - but it will be reviewed on 4th July.

No one expects them to be able to open on the 5th.

But the feel you get is that the review date is 2021, not 3 weeks time!

I'm not sure this is entirely the case. The ROH has had several social media posts, and an article in the Times, about the preparation of a new pas de deux for the performance they're livestreaming tomorrow evening. While the 2 dancers, Francesca Hayward & Cesar Corrales, are a couple the choreographer, Wayne McGregor, is from another household & it appears that him rehearsing them is allowed, as long as he stays distanced from them in the room.

Tell that to the Old Vic, Claire Foy and Matt Smith!

Using rehearsal space has never been illegal as it is work that arguably cannot be done from home.

Ok, so they can rehearse, but they still can’t open the theatre.

And you can also see your parents as long as you sit next to them on Stealth at Thorpe Park

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comments.

Travelling for work that cannot be done from home has been allowed from the start of lockdown, so ROH are probably using that as a loophole. I'd guess most theatres don't want to risk endangering actors and crew while it's still illegal to open for audiences.


Theatre leaders are painfully aware that there's PR mountain to climb to convince the general public that theatre is a worthy investment, and not some boring elitist thing their posh aunt Ethel once dragged them to. Hence the decision to portray theatre as being in dire peril, and the hammering of the "£5 for every £1 investment not bailout" point. Plus everyone's terrified their production will be the one to infect people. All it takes is one infected person lowering their mask to sneeze because sneeze droplets can travel much further than 2m. It's not just the human cost, but we have to be pragmatic and think about PR too. We've all seen the headlines about Devon beaches, we don't want headlines about how selfish theatre bosses are endangering the public by selfishly re-opening too soon, and god can you imagine if we re-opened and someone did get infected?


There are other issues at play here too. If the Treasury rejects the financial proposal or doesn't extend furlough then theatre as an industry might recover, but an awful lot of smaller and more niche companies will die, there'll be less willingness to take risks or take a chance on unknown writers and directors, and an awful lot of talented artists from less financially privileged backgrounds will be forced out. It might be fine in the immediate future, but what about in ten years when an entire generation of emerging talent has been throttled? I don't want a theatre landscape where your only choices are Macbeth, the Mousetrap, or Mamma Mia and you have to travel to London because the regional theatres had to close. When you see industry leaders on TV making dire warnings that theatre will die without help, they don't literally think the UK will never stage another theatre production. But that the theatre industry as we know it will die, and be replaced with one that's aggressively commercial and homogeneous.




Thank you.

The Old Vic's socially distanced Lungs is probably a step towards this. Other theatres are watching with interest to see if the OV manage to pull off rehearsing and staging a performance using social distancing. If they do, I predict more socially distanced performances. But that needs to be tested first. Getting audiences in will be the last step.

Yes, really appreciate the insight and everyone’s hard work.

I think we’re all just chomping at the bit to get back to the theatre.
The streamed stuff is great, but it really makes me miss actually being there!