ARTS / THEATER
As COVID-19 rules ease, the show goes on in UK
Raising the curtain
Published: May 18, 2021 06:33 PM
A pedestrian passes the Sondheim Theatre in central London on Sunday. Photo: AFP

A pedestrian passes the Sondheim Theatre in central London on Sunday. Photo: AFP

The curtain went up again in Britain's theaters this week, after a year of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing hopes of recovery for the beleaguered cultural sector.

College lecturer Denise O'Brien, 49, seized the opportunity to visit London's Bridge Theatre on Monday, as restrictions on indoor mixing were finally eased.

"It's a really controlled environment. I've always loved the theater - the industry is going to die if we don't go," she told AFP.

Heather Alderson, a 56-year-old advertising employee, braved a downpour and booked an hour off work to visit a theater for the first time in more than 12 months.

"You can get narrative from anywhere, but nothing beats theater in its immersiveness and the fact that it's live," she said.

Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap - the world's longest-running play - returned to St Martin's Theatre in London's West End entertainment district on Monday.

A special concert production of Les Miserables takes center stage at the Sondheim Theatre from Thursday, while A Midsummer Night's Dream returns to Shakespeare's Globe from Wednesday.

But despite the reopening, many larger venues will not welcome back theatergoers immediately as social distancing requirements mean some shows are not profitable.

Julian Bird, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, welcomed the changes, even though only one-third of West End theaters plan to reopen straightaway.

"We are desperate to have everything open, but it's fantastic that we can open in parts," he told AFP.

"It gets audiences back into theaters and, crucially, provides employment for people in our sector."

He remains optimistic about British theater's future and the international primacy of the West End, which drew over 15 million visitors and generated revenues of almost 800 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in 2019.

"The pipeline of production is coming through and new shows are opening."

Although government support has kept organizations afloat, some people have fallen through gaps in the safety net.

Freelancers make up an estimated 70 percent of theater workers and were hit hard by lockdowns due to their fragile employment status.

Freelance lighting designer Robbie Butler, 27, worked in the West End before the pandemic and received self-employment income support.

However, British theater's "notoriously low" freelance fees forced him to do other jobs and move in with family in Glasgow to make ends meet.

"It's difficult to plan with everything that's happened over the past year. We have to defend our existence," he told AFP.

But the gradual reopening of society and the economy offers hope for Butler and his sector.

"Contracts are starting to come in and the phone has started to ring again. The world is starting to return but there's apprehension as well," he said.