Why can we fly on planes but not visit indoor theatres?
It’s all very well giving the sector a vital cash injection, says Charlotte Cripps, but unless they reopen to the public soon then nothing will change and we will lose them all anyway
The UK’s cultural industry “is the beating heart of this country”, said Boris Johnson this week.
He’s quite right. That’s why it was a hip hip hooray moment when the UK government announced a £1.5bn rescue package to help keep the arts afloat.
The bailout will provide music venues, independent cinemas, museums, galleries, theatres, and heritage sites with emergency grants and loans.
OK, it won’t be enough to save every job or every venue, but it will help to preserve “crown jewels” such as the Royal Albert Hall – which was on the brink of bankruptcy – and national galleries, while also helping local institutions across the UK.
The news was welcomed – even if the help was long-awaited.
Last week over 100 artists including Radiohead, Dua Lipa, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay, signed an open letter to the government demanding immediate action to prevent “catastrophic damage” to the music industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic with the #LetTheMusicPlay campaign.
With a lack of a timetable for these venues to reopen, the bailout is not such a bright light at the end of the tunnel as it seemed
Meanwhile, actor David Tennant and theatre producer Sonia Friedman have been leading voices in the fight to get the government to help the theatre industry.
The trouble is, it’s all very well giving the sector a vital cash injection – but when can some of these places reopen?
While museums have now been allowed to welcome back visitors, it’s still unclear when theatres and music venues can reopen.
Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “Great to see the government support the arts but what we really need is for the UK’s theatres to open safely as soon as practically possible.”
With a lack of a timetable for these venues to reopen – culture secretary Olivier Dowden said it was unlikely until after Christmas – the bailout is not such a bright light at the end of the tunnel as it seemed.
Is it fair? Quite frankly, it seems ludicrous that we can take a cramped flight on holiday to Marbella – yet we can’t sit in an auditorium or a music venue.
Planes have to be the most unhygienic environments at the best of times. Surely at the theatre or in some music venues movement can be controlled more easily than in mid-air? Times might be turbulent but the government should think rationally.
Yours,
Charlotte Cripps
Culture writer