UK in danger of becoming ‘cultural wasteland’

INDUSTRY experts fear hundreds of theatres will soon have to announce redundancy plans.

They say the prospect of being able to stage indoor performances without social distancing this year is increasingly remote.

One MP said the UK was in danger of becoming “a cultural wasteland”.

In the first 12 weeks of lockdown over 15,000 theatrical performances were cancelled, with a loss of more than £303million in box office revenue, according to a report into the impact of Covid-19 by the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Committee.

The total loss of income will be some £630million, a joint submission to the committee by the representative bodies for UK theatre estimated.

Sheffield Theatres this week said it is “fighting for its future”, while York’s Theatre Royal also said swingeing job cuts are necessary.

Manchester’s Royal Exchange, which has announced 65 per cent of staff face redundancy. London’s

The Old Vic said it faced the greatest threat to its future since it opened in 1818.

The Society of London Theatres said: “We now face a pivotal 10 days for our future.”

A spokesman said that while the recent £1.57billion Government support was hugely welcome, “It’s been three weeks and we don’t even know yet how we can apply for funds and so, tragically, it will now come too late for some.”

Yesterday, a report by MPs accused the Government of a

“failure” to act quickly enough to help UK arts because they “consistently failed to recognise” the scale of the challenge.”

MP Julian Knight, chair of the DCMS Committee, said: “We are in danger, if not careful, of becoming a bit of a cultural wasteland.”

A spokesman for the Department for DCMS, said: “Thousands of organisations and hundreds of thousands of jobs working across culture, the arts, sport and tourism have been saved by furloughing and loan schemes.”