‘Book with confidence at West’s top theatre as lockdown eases’

THE boss of the UK’s largest regional producing theatre is looking forward to reopening after the Government threw the cultural sector a £300million lifeline – and says audiences can now book tickets with confidence.

Adrian Vinken, chief executive of the Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP), said a limited opening at Christmas – between lockdowns – proved theatres could operate safely.

On the anniversary of the theatre’s enforced Covid shutdown yesterday he said the business has survived thanks to the Government’s continued financial bailout, the extension of the furlough scheme and the support of the general public, who provided £130,000 in donations to TRP.

In December 2020, Mr Vinken revealed the theatre had taken a £10 million hit from not being able to open.

And in June 2020, Tory MP Theresa Villiers told the Commons that Mr Vinken has warned “the entire performing arts industry is facing oblivion” and that he called it “a human and economic disaster” and “a cultural catastrophe”.

But yesterday Mr Vinken was more upbeat and praised “the Government’s sterling support for the cultural sector”, particularly the Job Retention Scheme and Cultural Recovery Fund. He also paid tribute “the support we have felt from the wider public and our supporters”.

He said the Government’s roadmap to reopening the economy following the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, and the appetite for theatre shown during the brief unlocking in December 2020, are causes for optimism, though he stressed that there are “no guarantees” of further financial support if plans go awry.

He said he was looking forward to returning to “something like business as usual without restrictions”, and added: “and if that is the case we have a very solid diverse and highquality programme of theatre waiting for you, from June onwards and we can’t wait.”

He stressed: “We know how to welcome you back into this organisation, this building very safely because we learned how to do it. You can continue to buy tickets with confidence, and we look forward to welcoming you back. We look forward to a much rosier autumn.”

Mr Vinken said it has been “soul destroying” for the “creative people at the heart of this organisation whose lives depend on communicating, creating new work, expressing themselves, entertaining you” when they suddenly had to stop work.

When TRP was forced to close for the first time in its 37-year history it lost 91% of its income overnight and had to make about 100 redundancies.

But Mr Vinken said the support of Government and public helped TRP continue some of its work including providing workshops for 478 people through their Engagement and Learning projects, with 326 sessions on Zoom and 63 delivered in person while restrictions were temporarily eased.

It was also able to support 54 artists through a talent development programme and teach five modules of actor training. In December it was able to host 16,000 people safely for 80 performances of three festive shows, including a socially distanced pantomime.