Struggling theatre industry is on the brink of ruin, warn top actors

THE country’s top performers, playwrights and producers have urged the Government to help save the arts sector.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sir Tom Stoppard, Juliet Stevenson and James McAvoy are among the 100 names backing a letter to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak which calls for Government investment.

Published yesterday, the letter warns that UK theatre is on the ‘brink of ruin’ and has been ‘brought to its knees’ by the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter is also addressed to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden who said he has spoken to Lord Lloyd-Webber about the issues.

Mr Dowden said it would be ‘exceptionally difficult’ for theatres to reopen because of social distancing rules. But he added that the Government will work with industry experts to develop a ‘roadmap’ to ‘permit live performances’.

It comes as a report from Oxford Economics predicted that the virus would lead to a ‘cultural catastrophe’ with more than 400,000 job losses and a £74billion loss in revenue across the arts industry.