Theatres, sports about to be filled
THEATRES, stadiums and other big venues could reopen without social distancing measures within weeks, it has emerged.
Ministers have ordered an acceleration of efforts to ensure crowds can return while keeping the threat of spreading coronavirus to a minimum.
Some indoor venues could open their doors from November 1 under a timetable being discussed in Whitehall.
Meanwhile a discount scheme for theatres – similar to last month’s Eat Out To Help Out for pubs, restaurants and cafes – is also under consideration.
Other measures could include giving theatre goers the highly anticipated saliva tests, so they will know if they have Covid19 before they head out for the evening. The drive comes nearly three months after the Daily Express launched its Raise The Curtain campaign to save theatres from closure.
A source close to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said last night: “The focus is finding a way to get audiences back in significant numbers to let theatres get stuff back on.
“The challenge isn’t demand, it’s the restrictions with social distancing.”
Ministers have agreed that theatres and sports venues should be among the main beneficiaries of the Government’s drive to check up to four million people a day using saliva tests, which give results in minutes.
Ticket holders for plays and sports matches would be tested in advance and checked again a few days after the event.
One official said: “Rapid testing is seen as the thing that can unlock the issue of getting audiences back.
“Direction has been given at a very senior level to work at extreme pace on this. The Prime Minister is keen on making rapid progress.” Meanwhile Mr
Dowden’s office has launched Operation Sleeping Beauty to try to get theatres open in time for the pantomime season.
In a newspaper article yesterday, the Culture Secretary said: “We need to start filling seats in much larger numbers, not just for the audiences, not just for the venues and livelihoods who depend on them, but for the entire urban economy, too.” He
added: “I’m keen to take some of the best experimental ideas for getting people into our theatres safely and put them into practice.
“It could be using technology to improve ventilation in venues, as used in the pilots at the London Palladium and other theatres.” He also pointed to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which is looking at
saliva tests for musicians and their families.
He said: “Testing is the short- term key until we find a working vaccine.
“We’re making exciting advances in quick turnaround testing, where on- theday coronavirus tests could give people who test negative a pass to visit the theatre that evening. These technologies are still emerging, but we will throw everything at making them work.
“We’ve got to consider every idea and back several horses.” Current social distancing rules mean theatres can only admit a quarter of their capacity. They say that 70- 80 per cent of seats need to be filled for them to be financially viable. For large sports venues, it is 60 per cent.
The drive to get them fully open comes as the Treasury team behind the Eat Out to Help Out scheme is considering a “seat out to help out” plan to encourage people to the arts.
One idea is for theatres and restaurants to team up, so
people with a show ticket can save on the cost of a meal before or after a performance.
A Government source said: “It could be tickets for a tenner on a Monday, with a link to local restaurants.”
Among those being consulted are Henry Dimbleby and Will Beckett, of the Leon and Hawksmoor restaurant chains, and Neil Mendoza, the commissioner for cultural recovery and renewal. He said: “We’ve got all sorts of ideas spinning around.”
Pricing
He hopes to see big, publicly funded institutions such as the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House offering cut- price deals to entice customers back.
He said: “There is nothing to stop any cultural organisation using differential pricing.”
So far Chancellor Rishi Sunak has handed more than £ 1.5billion to a recovery fund to save theatres, museums and other cultural institutions.
He is not expected to offer more cash for the new schemes.