NOT QUITE THE FINAL CURTAIN... YET
Virus could keep theatres shut for a year, producers warn
To reopen, or not to reopen with social distancing? That is the question haunting theatres and cinemas that were shuttered overnight by coronavirus lockdowns.
Theatrical impresario Cameron Mackintosh, the legendary British producer behind a half-century of hit shows from Cats to
Hamilton, said it could be next year before the lights go back on in New York’s Broadway and London’s West End.
With British actor Stephen Fry warning that it could be as far off as next April, Mackintosh said it was impossible for theatres to open their doors again while social distancing measures were still in force.
With some out-of-work actors and musicians on Broadway considering changing careers, French star Isabelle Adjani said last week it would be curtains unless governments “declare a cultural emergency”.
“We are going to be the last to go back,” Mackintosh told BBC radio. “The truth is until social distancing doesn’t exist any more, we can’t even plan to reopen.”
Commercial theatre depends on shows being at least two-thirds full as a rule of thumb to keep ticking over.
With people meant to sit up to 2m apart, that would mean at least two empty seats around each masked audience member, official French guidelines recommend.
Such restrictions were socially and economically impossible, producers insisted.
Even in the US state of Texas, whose Governor Greg Abbott has been gung-ho about lifting restrictions, only a tiny number of cinemas grabbed the chance to reopen at the weekend.
Few cinemagoers were tempted to brave the temperature checks at the door, with their screening rooms allowed to be no more than a quarter full.
“We either reopen completely or we don’t at all. It’s black and white,” said French theatrical tycoon Jean-Marc Dumontet, who owns six Paris theatres.
People simply “will not want to go back to the theatre if they feel it is dangerous”, he added.
Stephen Fry agreed, saying distancing restrictions go against the whole theatrical experience.
“The very quality that makes theatre so thrilling — the united presence of an audience clustered together to experience live performance — is what makes the enterprise so unsuited in a period of necessary social distancing,” he said.
Hollywood too is sceptical about a quick return to normal despite US President Donald Trump saying he wanted American cinemas to reopen as soon as possible.
Studios have pushed back the release of most of their big budget “tent-pole” blockbusters until August or later, reluctant to risk them on a still jittery public.
Some cinema chains in the UK — which has been hit much harder by the virus — also want to open in July, although neighbouring Ireland is not contemplating a return until mid-August.
While the outlook is bleak for live theatre, the major US chain Cinemark believes cinemas can weather the storm — and any recession that might follow.
“Historically the exhibition industry has been recession-resilient and we believe it will rebound and benefit from pent-up demand as home sheltering subsides and people seek a communal experience,” it said in a note to investors.
However, it warned that any return to normal “may span multiple months” because of “lingering social distancing” and consumer discomfort with public gatherings.
Despite everything, Cinemark said many cinemas could still make a profit even when two-thirds empty.
Theatres do not have that luxury. With dire warnings of venues going dark and shows closing forever, French President Emmanuel Macron was expected to announce a bail-out for the country’s live entertainment sector last week.
In Britain, where theatre plays an even bigger role in country’s cultural and economic life, the government has so far been silent despite a growing clamour for aid.
While there is no question of theatres being allowed to open yet in Austria, companies will be allowed to rehearse again from May 18 for one-man shows, and from early June for shows involving more than one actor.
Broadway, however, will remain firmly in lockdown, and with little hope of state aid, the outlook is bleak.
“I think we’re all a bit hopeless,” said violinist Maxim Moston, who is in the orchestra of the musical Moulin Rouge.
“I think a lot of people are thinking about other careers at this point.”
‘‘We either reopen completely or we don’t at all. It’s black and white