Coronavirus and theatres: No business in showbusiness

A year ago, Theatr Clwyd was celebrating an Olivier award for Home, I'm Darling - now it and other Welsh venues are worried for their future

From showbusiness to no business - theatres in Wales have warned they need funding help to survive.

The sector says the coronavirus pandemic has left them with huge losses and little prospect of reopening in a financially viable fashion for months.

The boss of one of Wales' most respected theatres said every single venue is "at risk of closure".

The Arts Council of Wales said it was working with the Welsh Government to help deal with the financial impact.

"The entire industry could collapse without the proper, extensive and long-term support that it needs in order to survive and get through this," stressed Tamara Harvey, artistic director at Flintshire's Theatr Clwyd.

"Every theatre across the UK is at risk right now."

All shows for the rest of the year have been cancelled at the Wales Millennium Centre

The concerns extend to even the highest-profile venues, such as the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

It has been forced to cancel all its shows until the end of the year, including its main Christmas performances of The Phantom of the Opera.

About 70% of the 400 staff have been put on furlough.

But the UK government scheme to pay staff wages will come to an end long before the shows restart - or income flows from ticket sales, cafes and bars.

"The actual long-term impacts of this are just as worrying as the short-term," said Graeme Farrow, the centre's artistic director.

"The short-term is about survival and the long-term is about adapting and finding a way to rebuild this organisation and, indeed, the arts and theatre infrastructure in Wales."

The Wales Millennium Centre is also home to the Welsh National Opera

Even if theatres are told the show can go on, those in charge fear social distancing measures will make it impossible for actors and theatre staff.

"It's not creatively viable on the stage," said Theatr Clwyd's Tamara Harvey.

"The actors would have to be socially distanced. None of the cast or creative teams could involve anyone from vulnerable groups, so suddenly we're not seeing diversity on our stages - in terms of age, in terms of underlying health conditions.

"You can't have a stage manager hand an actor a prop. You can't have costume changes. The look and feel and nature of the stories that we would be telling would be very different indeed."

Restrictions on audience capacity too could mean productions are losing money before the curtain is even raised.

Theatr Clwyd said lockdown had already cost it £1m in turnover - the figure for the Millennium Centres is millions more.

Senedd members looking at the impact Covid-19 has had on the theatre sector have warned action needs to be taken to prevent "losing a generation of artists".

"We are urging the Welsh Government to take swift action to support this important part of Welsh life," said Helen Mary Jones, the acting chair of the Senedd's Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.

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The Arts Council of Wales, which provides funding to 67 organisations, most of which involve the performing arts, has already ear-marked £7m to help both organisations and individuals who are suffering financially because of the current crisis.

But they estimated that losses among the various bodies they fund are running at £1.4m a week.

In a statement, an Arts Council official said: "These are deeply troubling times for concert halls, arts centres and theatres.

"The forced lockdown earlier in the year deprived them overnight of the majority of their income.

"As long as social distancing rules apply, venues will struggle to make enough money from ticket sales to sustain a viable business."

The Lion King was due to start its run in Cardiff next month - it will now be 2022

The Arts Council said it had been working with the Welsh Government to help deal with the immediate financial impact of the crisis and lockdown.

It added: "The sector will struggle without additional funds beyond the immediate emergency, and we will want to explore what government funding might be available to protect the sector in the longer term."

The West End hit The Lion King was supposed to be staged at the Wales Millennium Centre in July - but it will now be 2022 before it is seen in Cardiff.

The show's stars might still be singing about Hakuna Matata - No Worries - but for the performance sector, there is nothing but worries about what the future might bring.