Theatres remain closed (Image: Getty)
But writing exclusively for the Daily Express’s Raise The Curtain crusade, the head of arts and entertainment union Bectu warns the “incredibly welcome” package risks be wasted unless urgent moves are made to stimulate the industry and get shows back on stage. And Philippa Child warns that hundreds of theatres across the country are now in critical danger of becoming empty shells that will be lost to their communities forever.
Lord Lloyd-Webber is leading calls for a date for theatres to be fully re-opened (Image: Getty)
She said: “If there was ever an industry that was built on the talent of its workforce then it is the arts, but the government’s approach risks cutting out both audiences and artists and leaving us with a collection of empty buildings. It’s like saving the Globe but sacking Shakespeare.”
Abba star Bjorn Ulvaeus this week issued SOS about the future of extravagant West End musicals claiming that lavish productions such as Mamma Mia could be a thing of the past if theatres are forced to implement drastic social distancing measures for audiences.
Lord Lloyd-Webber is leading calls for a date for theatres to be fully re-opened and is insisting that adequate safety measures can be put in place without reducing audience capacity to just 30 percent.
But with such concessions looking unlikely, Bectu say that unless theatres are made a special exemption then thousands more workers will join the 5,000 theatre staff who have already lost their jobs during the pandemic.
They are urging for the furlough scheme to be extended as a sector specific concession and also want an extension to the self-employment income support scheme, designed to support freelancers until next spring.
Applications for repayable loans from the culture fund open today and organisations can apply for an unlimited amount starting from £3m out of an initial £270m pot.
But the earliest they will be told if they have qualified for the loan will be in mid-October.
Grants worth a maximum of £3m can also be applied for but recipients will not be notified of the outcome until the end of September.
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Comment by Phillipa Childs
I
t’s time to start asking questions about the arts bailout and what it will achieve
Our creative industries are the envy of the world and our members’ commitment and energy is what makes theatre so magical – they work tirelessly day and night to raise the curtain.
However, the pandemic has changed everything – overnight the industry went dark.
When the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund was announced in July we said the detail of how it was going to be distributed was crucial.
I have personally written to culture secretary Oliver Dowden to congratulate him on achieving such a significant package to support our rich tapestry of cultural organisations.
However, I also highlighted Bectu’s deep concerns that the government’s focus to save the arts is failing the very people whose creativity and ideas are crucial to delivering them.
At the start of this month we were involved in consultation around 5000 redundancies and lay-offs taking place across the industry – a jump of close to 2000 in a month.
This tsunami of redundancies, which don’t take into consideration the tens of thousands of freelancers without work, are only set to continue.
The details of the recovery fund and how it is to be distributed have just come too late. Theatres can apply for either a grant or a loan – not both.
Grants, capped at £3m which aren’t sufficient for iconic organisations to weather the storm, won’t be available until the end of September at the earliest.
The criteria for loans, made available this week, revealed that funding won’t be paid out until mid-October.
During that time employers are also being expected by Government to contribute to the cost of the furlough scheme.
However, only a few of them are starting to think about how they can re-open again with socially distanced performances although they won’t bring in the revenue they need.
On top of that the funding criterion encourages organisations to “mothball” rather than to get back to work and think about producing future innovative work.
It raises questions about whether this huge commitment of public money is going to achieve what many people hoped it would.
Surely the aim of a package of this kind should be to stimulate the market and ensure people are employed?
However it looks like it will in large part be supporting redundancy packages and building maintenance while the government claims that theatres are opening again, which just isn’t happening.
If there was ever an industry that was built on the talent of its workforce then it is the Arts, but the government’s approach risks cutting out both audiences and artists and leaving us with a collection of empty buildings.
It’s like saving the Globe but sacking Shakespeare.
• Phillipa Childs, is the head of Bectu
