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Coronavirus Entertainment Feature National

Director claims 40% of local theatres could be lost by spring 2021

A survey by a local theatre director suggests that nearly half of local theatres in England could be lost if they are unable to reopen by January.

Paul Slaughter, director of the Kent-based theatre company, Subgrey Productions, investigated over 300 local theatres across England.

He found that up to 40% of theatres which had between 50 and 300 seats would have to close by springtime if they are unable to open to a wider audience by January.

He started investigations in May after finding out how badly theatres in the Kent area were struggling. He conducted a survey of 354 community theatres asking them how long they will be able to survive under current conditions.

Avenue Theatre, Sittingbourne

He explained: “They’ve always been on a shoestring budget. This closure and continual closure could mean that up to 40% of them could be lost by January next year. Fundraising will only go so far.”

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport have been contacted for a comment.

Some local theatres have been able to receive grants over the summer from the council. Additionally, on Monday, the Department of culture, media and sport announced that it was giving a total of £257 million to over 1,300 theatres and other cultural venues.

A spokesperson for the Department of culture media and sports said that over £67 million of the fund went to theatres of all sizes across the whole country.

The spokesperson stated: “We have always been clear that moving forward with the performing arts roadmap was dependent on the prevalence of COVID-19.

“We are working closely with venues to move to stage 5 – opening theatres up fully – when it is safe to do so.”

Waterloo East Theatre in London has a capacity of 100 seats and would have closed their doors in December forever if not for the grant they received from the Cultural Renewal Fund.

They haven’t been able to open since March and say they have fallen into the cracks of government and council schemes of support.

Panto Dame, PA Media, Kirsty O’Connor

Gerald Armin, owner of Waterloo East Theatre said that the recovery grant was his last hope. He added: “Nobody was happier than I was when I got the email to say that we’ve received. This means the future of Waterloo East has been secured a little bit longer.”

However, he believed that the government should have acted sooner and shared the fund more fairly.

“I am pleased that we got a piece of it but really it should have been done more fairly across the board for other venues.”

A community theatre in Kent was recently saved from closure by starting a gofundme page.

Theatre production company 45 North was another recipient of the Culture recovery fund. Their CEO, Jessica McVay, was glad to hear that they have received the fund but agrees that the government’s response to the impact of the pandemic on the arts is not good enough.

She stated: “Those small theatres are where artists get their start. Those first steps are so important. If we can’t do everything in our power to save as much of the industry as possible then it will have very grave effects for the next generation of artists.”

Paul Slaughter’s survey also gave an idea of alternatives which will allow local theatres to operate safely during the pandemic but at a capacity where they will not be making a loss.

These included having theatre groups taking covid tests before coming into a theatre venue and audiences having temperature checks at the door. The results can be found on Subgrey Productions website.

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