Theatres return to full capacity auditoriums after 16 months

For the first time since March 2020, theatres can now welcome audiences in full auditoriums as capacity restrictions were lifted this week. 

Restrictions such as booking party sizes, socially distanced auditoriums, compulsory temperature checks, and many other compulsory constraints have been lifted, however, you should still check with your local theatre as to which restrictions still apply; some theatre owners may still be on the side of caution. 

Despite the reopening on Monday, it seems we have entered a period dubbed the “pingdemic”. It has been reported that in the first week of July, over 500,000 people in England and Wales were sent isolation alerts by the NHS Covid-19 tracking app. Last week, travellers at Heathrow Airport experienced large queues when a high percentage of its workforce received pings to self-isolate. Iceland became the first supermarket to close some of its stores after over 1000 of its staff were told to self-isolate. 

This may become a real problem for theatres too, as Lord Lloyd Webber pointed out in a statement, “we cannot function with this current system. We can’t isolate every time somebody may or may not have it. It just simply doesn’t work”. 

Honestly, he’s right, it’s very possible that most individuals who receive the pings do not have the virus. So does all this mean for us? It is quite probable that we may end up seeing theatres closed again in the coming weeks or months. We may have another Freedom Day in the future, fingers crossed that does not happen and theatres, as well as the nation, will remain open.