Playwright’s warning as theatres are forbidden from putting on live shows
BRITAIN’S CULTURAL landscape is “in collapse”, one of the nation’s leading playwrights has warned, as fears are raised over the impact of social distancing and closed settings.
Theatres and concert halls can reopen from July 4 but only to screen recordings of past events, rather than live performances.
The chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall has warned solutions must be found in “weeks not months” to aid the reopening of the creative sector.
Now Hull University graduate James Graham, who wrote Ink and The Vote, as well as TV dramas Quiz and Brexit: The Uncivil War, has spoken of his dismay at the situation.
Citing an example of the Theatre Royal, in Plymouth, which started redundancy consultations on Monday, he said: “A
theatre that now has no artists, and they won’t be coming back.
“Our world-beating cultural landscape is in collapse.”
Boris Johnson announced that venues can open next month with reduced social distancing, but a date for shows to resume is yet to be determined. Unions have called for a “comprehensive” rescue and recovery package, accusing the Government of “failing to recognise the seriousness of the situation”.
Britain’s biggest museums, including the Tate and British Museum, are not expected to reopen on July 4, with the Art Fund warning that some may never do so. While they closed in just 24 hours, it will take far longer to reopen, the charity says, with many reliant on international visitors.
Solutions must be sought urgently, the chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall, Craig Hassall, said, following a £12m loss in potential income.
“We are in a desperate situation, not as desperate as other people in our sector, there are small theatre companies and concert halls that are unable to reopen and this is weeks not months,” he said.
“We need to have a solution within weeks, not months.”