Theatres await cue after cash lifeline
LEADING figures from Rochdale’s theatre community say government funding to support the entertainment industry after the impact of lockdown is ‘a step in the right direction,’ but more guidance on a timescale for reopening will still be needed.
A £1.57bn emergency support package to help offset the damage arts organisations and venues including theatres, galleries and museums have faced during months of closure was revealed on Sunday (July 5).
The government had previously faced criticism over its roadmap consisting of five stages for the reopening of theatres and performance venues, but without a timescale for when each phase should take place, and for not providing a financial support package to the arts industry.
Following the announcement of the fund, which the government has called ‘world-leading,’ arts representatives in Rochdale said there was still some uncertainty over what the plans would mean for local and amateur groups, but that they ultimately represented a positive step.
Martine Bradford, creative director of Skylight Circus Arts, which runs workshops and training in circus skills for a range of groups including the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as creating its own theatrical performances, says the funding offers a ‘little glimmer of hope.’
She said: “It shows that they do recognise how badly that support was needed - but the question is has it come soon enough to save people’s jobs?
“In terms of whether we can access that funding, there’s no information about that yet. It will certainly be very competitive.
“If it is open to us to apply, then we will certainly look for any opportunities.
“We’re working so hard to try and be viable - but we can’t do our classes or our performances.”
She added: “Before lockdown we had been working on our show ‘Mammoth’ for months and months and were just weeks away from the first performance.
“Now we’ve had to adapt and it’s become almost a digital film piece.
“We love live performance but at the moment we just can’t do it. Our school is all quiet and dark and we’ve got no details on how we will be able to operate again.”
Skylight recently received a grant of £20,000 from the Arts Council England in emergency Covid funding, which Martine says they will now use to further explore the possibility of resuming their activities on digital platforms, as well as ensuring safety at the company’s studio on St Chad’s Fold for some of the vulnerable residents it works with.
She said: “There’s so much we will have to take on to make our spaces safe - you have to think about everything, whether it’s social distancing or just trying to keep our equipment from getting contaminated.
“We were really lucky and we’re extremely grateful but that funding won’t be enough on its own, it’s an emergency resource.”
Lynn Sheerin, business director of the Curtain Theatre,
an amateur theatre run by volunteers from its performance space on Milkstone Road, said guidance on timing and social distancing will be essential before even non-professional companies like hers can stage performances once again.
She said: “Timescale and especially social distancing is everything. We cannot make any plans until we know these two facts.
“I feel for the professional theatres as it is not viable for them to function unless they have fuller houses.”
“It would be great if we could access the grant scheme, but we will have to wait and see.”
She said: “Our plans very much depend on the ‘social distancing.’ If it applies to the actors it means perhaps only being able to produce plays for the moment, at least with small casts, so the choice is limited.
“We are confident we can keep our audiences safe, but at the moment we are planning in terms of opening with front and backstage personnel operating at 2 metres apart.”
The Curtain Theatre normally stages five shows a year, and when lockdown hit, its performers were in rehearsals for a production of ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe,’ which has now had to be postponed. The company was also due to stage ‘The Rise and Fall of Little Voice’ in June.
Lynn said: “We have not been able to have any activity during lockdown, not even digitally.”
However, another of the borough’s amateur groups, Rochdale Musical Theatre Company, has been able to make use of digital opportunities to keep working during lockdown, holding auditions for its upcoming production of the musical Legally Blonde over Microsoft Teams.
Callbacks are due to take place this weekend under social distancing conditions in chairman Dan Killeen’s back garden, with hopes of a run of performances in February or March of next years.
Dan said: “We do all our performances at Matthew Moss High School so we just have to wait for the cue from them in terms of when we can get back on the stage.
“It’s giving people something to get excited about and the reaction so far has been really positive.”
He said of the funding package: “It’s a step in the right direction and about time. We don’t really lose any income because we’ll carry on when we are able to, but it’s the professional theatres like the Exchange that are really struggling.”
Prior to the announcement of the emergency funding, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre said it could have to make 65 per cent of its staff redundant within months if theatres did not receive financial support.
However, he added on the uncertainty surrounding social distancing: “I can now go down to the pub
●●Performers from Rochdale Musical Theatre Company, pictured on stage during their show ‘Showcase’, are already gearing up for their first post-lockdown performance. and watch my team play football, standing one metre away from the other punters.
“If someone scores a goal, everyone will cheer, and there will be a Covid risk from that - you’re not supposed to do it, but people will anyway.
“I don’t know why it’s one rule for them, but theatres still aren’t allowed to put perspex screens up between seats or in front of the stage for example, and go back to staging performances?
“There’s been so much flexibility around alcohol, but not around the arts.
“We work with a lot of people who have suffered mental health issues and they’ve had to sit at home during lockdown feeling miserable - there’s a duty of care being missed out on there.”
However, Dan is looking to the future with optimism, with plans for a joint showcase from RMTC, the Curtain Theatre, Heywood Amateur Operatic And Dramatic Society and Whitworth Amateur Musical & Dramatic Society formulating for the end of lockdown.
Milnrow and Newhey councillor Andy Kelly has reportedly already lent his support to the idea and Dan hopes wider council support in terms of securing a safe venue for the performance could give everyone in the borough something to look forward to.
He said: “Lockdown has given us a much bigger sense of community and although it’s been a tough time, that’s a real positive that’s come from it. We want to show how the community has been stronger together during this difficult time.”