How will theatre function when the lockdown ends?

I think it will be somewhat essential to develop and have sufficient uptake of the tracking and tracing app in order to get the entertainment industry more or less back to normal. That will give me confidence to go into a theatre but I think it will also require an update to a lot of returns policies to encourage people to buy tickets. If people could, at a moment's notice, be told to isolate for 7 or 14 days or whatever they decide, they will need confidence that they can swap their ticket for a later date. I sway between wanting to get back at the earliest opportunity and being very aware that contact with unknown people could increase the length of time until I can visit my older parents. It's a tricky one.

MrBraithwaite agree from a personal perspective the risks to health are equal whatever the size of venue and as you point maybe more so in some of the smaller venues.

Not made my point too clearly, my focus on venue size is based on the cost and investment required to put on a production, we would accept a minimal set and small cast somewhere like Jermyn St or Orange Tree over one of the larger West End Theatres and if we went into lockdown again the losses would be as minimal as possible.

Having just popped out to Waitrose in Brighton, believe me there are plenty of people not at all worried about leaving the house! This is of course a completely non scientific poll.

Seriously though I do think that even though audiences will no doubt be smaller, the limiting factor here is theatres being allowed to open at all.

On a related matter - if this lead to a reconfiguration of seating in West End theatres that is no bad thing.
They are SO cramped that frankly taking out all the seats and reinstalling them with ample legroom, non rubbing of shoulder and space for someone mid row to squeeze out for a wee without entire row standing up would be incredibly welcome.

As we have been mentioning Germany, all their new theatres are so spacious (both in seating and FOH) that by definition they pose less of a communicable disease risk.

Couldn't care less if Cam Mac selected every paint shade of the Victoria Palace loos carefully and painted logos onto the taps himself - it remains one of the most uncomfortable West End theatres as the seats are so close together!

I am sure some theatres will just tell people to give the tickets to family or friends if you can't go - more so for shorter or touring productions where it might not be possible to get an later performance

It will be harder for regional theatres with a large older following or performances which normally attract a more senior audience. I'm thinking, for instance, of matinees at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford and my seasonal trips to matinees in Chichester. In fairness I have no idea if the evening audience is significantly younger at both venues but I suspect perhaps not that much.

Thinking of those as I'm really missing the trips I was due to make to both during the lock-down as both towns are so much more pleasant than London for a theatre-based outing: sitting in the castle grounds at lunchtime in Guildford or beside the River Wey, or in the small, almost hidden flower-filled garden just off the main thoroughfare in Chichester. Plus gazing longingly from the train at all that fabulous walking country...

Yes, I had that from ETO yesterday so perhaps it's a generic survey which theatres/companies then brand as if it's from them.

Interesting article from the BBC about the future of air-travel, but these quotes also interesting for theatres:

"Responsible social distancing in the age of Covid-19 means staying at least 2m (6ft) from other people. But that’s impossible on a modern plane, where seats are around 45cm (17-18 inches) wide, so leaving the middle seat free only keeps you 45cm from your neighbour, side to side. You’d need to be more than four seats apart to keep 2m away. In other words, about as far away as the two window seats in any row of six seats separated by a single aisle. (We’re ignoring, for simplicity’s sake, any travel by passengers or crew up and down the aisle.)


That’s side to side. Forwards and backwards, airline seats are spaced in rows around 75-80cm (29-32 inches or so) apart. So, if we wanted to keep people at least 2m apart, that would mean leaving two full rows free between each passenger. What that means is seating four passengers every 26 seats, which translates in percentage form to filling just 15% of seats. [...]

Not all airlines are advocating the middle seat approach. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary questions the effectiveness of adding just 45cm of separation, especially if passengers aren’t separated adequately on the ground."



Which also applies to theatres, that are even more packed; just putting people on alternate seats is not really enough...and the capacity if done right is very small, there is no money to be made. There have to be additional ideas, also about the front of house and toilet-situation.

Don’t forget though, any families of three/four would be able to sit together on a plane even with social distancing rules. Same would apply for theatre I guess.

The main difference though - some flights can be profitable at just half full. Some flights now are going with 20-30 passengers tops because the cargo alone is enough to keep the route in profit. We all know that for theatre to be viable, a larger proportion of the seats have to be sold.

They're doing entertainment/hospitality industry on the Radio 5 phone in right now (9 to 10pm).

The ban is in place until 31 August officially but it surely will be extended. They have already cancelled the Octoberfest in Munich which usually starts late September...
Germany tends to copy other countries at the moment so I think it’s better to watch Austria. They are already planning for summer vacation.

One of the things that Norris says (maybe one the more optimistic comments!) gives an idea of what to expect when they an reopen. 'Production budgets have been halved' meaning that the physical production must be being reduced massively. with fewer large sets, relying more on lighting and sound, smaller casts, maybe less live music. On that, I was thinking about orchestras and how some sections are more affected than others. In a pit they are really scrunched together, so with social distancing that isn't likely. Maybe pipe it in from an area that they can spread out in? String players, keyboards, guitarists and percussionists are fine as they can wear masks but wind players are expelling a lot of air through their instruments. I wonder what classical music forums are saying about this.