The government’s current response to Covid-19 is unlikely to receive a standing ovation from theatrical companies. This is in part due to the fact there has been a failure to respond with due financial support for such bodies, but perhaps more due to the fact that unless such considerable measures are taken, there will simply be nobody left to clap.
The creative industries provide more than £100 billion for the British economy each year, far eclipsing other such entities, most notably sport. Yet Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, responded that the government is working “closely with our main cultural institutions to see how we can guide them through undoubtedly a very difficult period of time”. According to James Dacre, artistic director for the Royal & Derngate in Northampton, Jenrick missed the point.
Dacre continues in his piece for The Times, writing that: “The truth is, it’s these theatres, which supply the civic lifeblood to so many towns and cities, that are fighting for their lives.”
He notes that: “Lucky are those few venues that have the reserves to survive for even a few months.”
Dacre presses that the theatrical industry are not unaccustomed to working on tight budgets. The sector has grown at five times the rate of the wider UK economy after all.
He concludes that: “We pride ourselves on being an industry of problem-solvers for whom the show must go on, but we need a little help now.
“For one thing is certain. When this is all over it will be more important than ever that we can gather together once again and share stories that try to make sense of our lives.”
