Theatres on brink of ruin, ministers told

THE UK’S theatre industry is on the “brink of ruin”, a leading director has said, warning that the Government must take action in the next week to prevent “wave upon wave” of bankruptcies.

Sir Nicholas Hytner, who directed Miss Saigon and The History Boys in the West End, said theatres could not survive the pandemic without a Government bail-out, even with a one-metre social distancing rule.

“The maximum capacity any of us would be able to manage, even if we had a go, would be about 25 to 30 per cent, which simply isn’t enough,” he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One.

“Honestly, the entire arts centre is on the brink of ruin. That’s not just the theatres, that’s the great institutions, museums all over the country, it’s the independent commercial sector and it’s the vast community of freelance artists.”

Sir Nicholas said there was no chance that the Christmas pantomime season could happen, “whatever happens to the pandemic”.

He said: “This is the time of year when theatres have to start spending on their Christmas shows … nobody can do that because there’s been no box office for the last three months, so there’s no cash. Panto season is when theatres make the money at the box office that sustains them through the rest of the year.”

A spokesman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said: “We are providing unprecedented assistance including government loans, the Job Retention Scheme that hundreds of theatres have already received support from and the Arts Council have provided a £160 million emergenc response package.”