Live Performances Return to many of England's Theatres

The stage is set today for theatres around England to reopen their doors. As part of the Government's reopening roadmap, indoor venues have been given the green light to restart shows with a 50% capacity and a maximum of 1,000 people.

Although the partial opening has been acknowledged by most as a positive step towards a return to normality, the theatre world is being realistic in the short term. The industry has been disproportionally affected by Covid and lockdown restrictions over the last year and financial recovery will be a long term goal. With this in mind, many theatres will be waiting until June 21st to reopen.

"For most theatres it will not be economically viable to reopen with 30% - 40% audience required under social distancing," he said. "We now need to progress as quickly as possible to an announcement on the all-important stage five. Without this, most theatres cannot reopen viably, and we need the go-ahead for Christmas shows, on which the survival of many theatres depends, in the next few weeks at the very latest."

- Jon Morgan, director of the Theatres Trust

Recent calls have been made by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tom Stoppard and Ralph Fiennes to introduce Covid passports with the aim of allowing restrictions to be lifted within theatres. Although seen by many as a practical solution, this remains controversial and unlikely to be implemented in the short term. It is estimated more than 70 MPs are already poised to oppose any such proposal.

For those lucky enough to be able to access live theatre from today, the lifting of restrictions is liberating news. For those who must wait until the 21st of June, and hope the final stage of lockdown stays on track, it's as dramatic and unpredictable as can be expected from 2021.