Oh no they won’t! Theatres axe pantomimes
FOUR of London’s biggest pantomimes have been cancelled due to the uncertainty over when theatres will reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Hackney Empire, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch today made the “desperately sad” announcement together.
They said that “the continued uncertainty of government guidelines for restarting public performances” led to the “inevitable decision” to postpone productions to 2021.
This will come as a blow to communities where pantomime is a staple of the festive season, say the theatres’ leaders, as well as the 285 freelance artists and staff. It will also carve out a further significant hole in the theatres’ annual budgets. More than 145,000 people attended the four pantos last year, including 40,500 children, many of whom were visiting for the first time. Actor Clive Rowe, who has played the Hackney pantomime dame 13 times, said it is a “highlight of my year”, adding: “It’s a terrible loss to the community. There’s going to be a big hole in Christmas and, tied into what’s happening anyway with Covid, it leaves me very, very sad.”
Artistic director of the Lyric, Rachel O’Riordan said: “We need to start preparing to make the pantomime now, and we can’t do that without having clarity.” Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch artistic director Douglas Rintoul said he would have to start bringing staff off furlough now to get the show prepared, which is a “difficult commitment to make at this point”.
A date for reopening without social distancing wouldn’t be given until November “at the earliest”, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has confirmed. All four theatres agree that it is not feasible to put on a panto under these circumstances. Last year, trade association UK Theatre said that ticket income from its member theatres’ pantomimes grossed more than £60 million.
The pantomime alone accounts for 30 per cent of the Lyric’s yearly income from productions, says Ms O’Riordan, with Hackney Empire artistic director Yamin Choudhury adding that much of the money they make is reinvested not only into productions, but community projects and participation. He said: “Panto is an incredible tool for diversifying, both onstage and off. As a sector, we’re going to have to double and triple our efforts to ensure we’re doing as much as we can to engage and diversify our audiences in the future.” No announcement has been made on the London Palladium panto. However production company Qdos said they have no choice but to begin the consultation process about the show’s viability.
The entire theatre industry has been hit hard with some losing up to 90 per cent of income. Last week, entertainment union Bectu said about 5,000 theatre industry jobs have been lost.
PANTO’S coming at Christmas. Oh no it isn’t. Today brings the sad news that four of London’s biggest theatres have bowed to the inevitable and cancelled their panto season. It’s a huge blow to their finances but more than that it closes off one of the ways many people are introduced to the magic of theatre. Crowds who flock to see pantos may end up returning to see other things too. As the great actor Simon Callow writes on these pages today, the best thing about live performance is the engagement between those on the stage and those watching — and panto, raucous, noisy and cheeky, takes that interaction further than anything else that happens in theatres. You can laugh, shout and cheer.
The arts world is hoping that in 2021 some sort of normality can return to indoor performances. How that will happen still isn’t clear. But somehow, Widow Twanky and her friends will be back — oh yes they will.