Lloyd Webber: vaccine passes a small price to pay for theatre
LORD LLOYD-WEBBER has claimed mandatory masks and vaccine passports in theatres are the “obvious thing to do” to avoid another lockdown.
The composer, 73, a critic of the closure of theatres in lockdown, said draconian measures were “a small price to pay” to keep performances running.
His intervention comes as Scotland considers extending its vaccine passport scheme to include theatres.
Discussing the notion of similar measures in England, he said: “I think if it gets really bad here then that’s the obvious thing to do, as we can’t go through another lockdown.”
Lord Lloyd-webber was against theatres staying closed or under heavy curbs in June when other sectors reopened. He said then that he would open his theatres without social distancing “come hell or high water” and vowed that if he was not allowed, “we will say: ‘Come to the theatre and arrest us’”.
Now, as infections rise across Europe and countries bring in increasingly strict policies on vaccines, the man behind the West End’s £6million Cinderella musical has intervened again. “I’ve been in New York,” he told LBC. “You can’t go to the theatre without proof of double vaccination and you have to wear a mask ... And it strikes me that if that is what we have to do it’s a pretty low price to pay.”
England has resisted mandatory vaccine passports so far, but some venues require them for entry and the measure is part of the Government’s winter “plan B” for any rise in cases. Covid passes are required at cinemas and theatres in Wales and hospitality venues in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon will announce on Tuesday whether vaccine certificates will be extended from nightclubs and big events to cinemas and theatres.
Lord Lloyd-webber urged others to get jabbed. “It seems to me that the one thing everybody has got to do, whether they like it or not, is get vaccinated.”