Puppet Centre

These are just the statistics for theatre - the wider creative industries, like live music, face similar issues, closures and redundancies. And these industries all affect our food & drink, travel, accommodation and tourism industries too.

Allowing theatre to die isn’t just heartless, it’s bad economics.

Without government support, many theatres won’t be able to re-open, or will be utterly eviscerated. HMRC won’t receive the £200+ million VAT we normally pay to them each year.

Without government support, estimates suggest that 200,000 people who are currently without work, or will imminently lose their current job, will have to start claiming benefits.

Whatever you think of the arts, the economics of the situation are very simple.

Online theatre can’t save us. Playing to small audiences can’t save us. Outdoor theatre can’t save us. We need external help & we need it fast. Both for individuals excluded from government income support, and for the theatres that employ us, either full-time or otherwise.

With reserves drying up & no support from Gov, theatres can’t afford to keep furloughing full-time staff. They’re going into administration, or starting 30%-50% staff cuts. We’re at the start of a tidal wave of redundancies that’ll sweep across the country over the next 3 weeks.

Most people I know have received NO INCOME & NO SUPPORT SINCE MARCH. And they have no prospects of any work for the remainder of 2020. Freelancers are in a desperate situation. @ExcludedUK estimate 3 million UK freelancers are in similar position.

On a typical show: 20% full-time employees, 80% freelance/short-term/casual. Many mix freelance & short-term PAYE- not thru choice but because how HMRC classify work. Consequently MAJORITY of us excluded from SEISS freelance support scheme, and don’t qualify for furlough

There are 3 theatre workforces:- permanent full-time venue staff; freelance/short-term staff employed for a specific show- actors, musicians, crew & creatives; & casual day-to-day staff such as follow-spot operators, ushers & dressers. This is simplified, it’s more complex IRL

We can’t safely open up theatres now. We can’t economically open theatres now. And audiences wouldn’t come even if we did.

Survey of 40,000 theatregoers says only 15-20% would attend if theatres open now. We need to be past social distancing, or have other solutions before we can safely & economically open. Many believe that’s unlikely before early 2021. 70% of theatres will be bankrupt by then.

As other industries begin to reopen, the future of theatre is bleak. 2 metre social distancing means most theatres can operate at max 9-15% audience capacity. 1m distancing means max 33%. Theatres need 50-60% capacity just to cover their costs.

Over 100,000 people visit London to watch a West End show every single week - and for every £1 spent at the theatre they spend another £3 on food, drink, accommodation and travel. That's over £500 million per year into those industries.

In 2018, more than 34million tickets were sold, over double attendance of Premier League football, and generating £211 million in VAT alone for HMRC. Over 50% of theatres are charities or trusts, operating not for profit.

In the UK, theatre directly employs over 300,000 people. There’s another 100,000+ indirectly employed by companies like set builders & hire companies.

Its been a pivotal week as we waited to hear whether the government would help sustain our industry until we can re-open. Instead they released a vague & meaningless “roadmap”. As to financial support, the silence from the government has been deafening.

Theatre’s been around for centuries, it’s resilient to plagues & wars. But the people who work in theatre aren’t. They are desperately suffering right now, and things are about to get a lot worse. Majority of us have relatively low pay and little government support.