Would this help theatres survive?

[waltzingparrot]

I don't work in the theatre world, so don't understand their funding - I just attend occasionally and love it.

I have watched some filmed theatre performances online during lockdown and thought it worked well. Obviously, it's not the full on live experience, nor is it the big screen experience via cinemas, which I also enjoy. It is its own thing and I would pay to watch theatre performances at home on the telly or laptop. Would you?

Surely, this potential massive online audience could help them survive. I would however hope they'd keep the tickets really cheap. A fiver, and I might watch every week, so that's £250 that could have out of me annually, which is more than I spent on theatre last year.

@gotothecooler

I don't see how the cast and crew would be any less 'safe' than people working in pubs, shops or restaurants, all of which are now permitted to open.

That is your own problem if you can't see a difference. Have you ever seen a west end show? Surely you must be aware of the intimacy involved and how it is absolutely nothing like working alone side someone behind a bar

Are you saying that all the cast and crew of your average play are 'intimate' with one another? Some of the actors might be but there are ways around that. But most of those involved won't be particularly 'intimate' with one another.

Are the saying that even if theatres were permitted to open, those working in them would refuse to return to work for fear of not being 'safe'?

@IcedPurple

I'm saying theatre remaining closed is about the cast and crew - not the audience. I have said more then once.

*Are you saying that all the cast and crew of your average play are 'intimate' with one another? Some of the actors might be but there are ways around that. But most of those involved won't be particularly 'intimate' with one another.
**
*Yes. Yes I am. The majority of shows involve the actors being intimate. There are no ways round working in such close proximity unless the entire show is rechoreographed. Totally impractical.

Are the saying that even if theatres were permitted to open, those working in them would refuse to return to work for fear of not being 'safe'?

I'm not saying that because that is making a huge assumption on what other people will choose to do. Please don't try to put words into my mouth. I have literally no idea if people would refuse to return or not.

I'm not saying that because that is making a huge assumption on what other people will choose to do. Please don't try to put words into my mouth. I have literally no idea if people would refuse to return or not

Slightly puzzled as to how asking you a question is 'putting words into your mouth'.

And of course the primary risk in opening theatres is the potentially hundreds of people who could be sitting very close together for hours, not the relatively small number of staff who can make arrangements to socially distance to at least some extent. From what I gather, most actors and other theatre staff are desperate to return to work rather than waiting until it's 'safe'.

Slightly puzzled as to how asking you a question is 'putting words into your mouth'.

It was the 'are you saying....' assumption when I said nothing of the sort.

And of course the primary risk in opening theatres is the potentially hundreds of people who could be sitting very close together for hours, not the relatively small number of staff who can make arrangements to socially distance to at least some extent.

The thread was about live streaming, not opening theatres. Some people, you included, seem to think the audience are the reason theatres are not being allowed to open yet. They are not.

From what I gather, most actors and other theatre staff are desperate to return to work rather than waiting until it's 'safe'.

Maybe they are, i don't know, it's not really relevant tbh as they do t make the decisions, just like every other sector.

Icedpurple I can answer your question from my own experience running a theatre company.

To put a performance on we have to do a really rigorous risk assessment. That's normal, pre-Covid. Adding in the Covid risk factors, it becomes very very difficult to reduce the risk to a manageable level. No one knows currently how our insurance will stand up (we have to operate with public liability insurance etc).

There will be some shows you could do with everyone standing 2 meters away from each other/not touching or being physical with each other (not many as a proportion of the whole). You've got to take account of the safe distance away from someone singing or projecting loudly which will aerosolise their breath. And then you've got costumes and props, set and technical equipment which are handled by multiple people in the course of a show, set up and reset. You've got to get people to work and back, preferably not on public transport or sharing vehicles. You've got to share cramped backstage facilities. If one person goes down with symptoms, everyone in the team would need to isolate, meaning the whole thing is called off.

Every show would need to be rigorously thought through again from scratch. Most existing shows would not be possible without massive adjustments, meaning huge investment in re-rehearsal/redesign/rewriting, with no security of ticket income to balance the investment.

People in theatre are really really eager to get back to work but it is extremely hard to work out how it can be done safely.

Outdoor performance is somewhat more easily adapted and we are working hard at finding imaginative solutions to getting stuff up and out ASAP, but it's incredibly complicated.

There's two issues really.

One is the actual cost of running the theatre building itself.

The other is that the theatres themselves don't stage these productions in-house (with the possible exception of the annual panto).

They book individual singers or comedians, bands, musicals, plays, dance companies or other productions, which are usually touring round the country, and have them for anything from one night to two weeks. They are all independent and are paid by the theatre to perform, either as a flat fee, or as a percentage of ticket sales.

So that's the problem. Dance companies can't rehearse as dance studios are considered high-risk areas (like gyms). Singers can't rehearse either as singing is also a high-risk activity.

Most actors, singers and dancers are either on a short-term contract for the duration of a run, or are self-employed so the production companies can't furlough them. No rehearsals or performances means no income.

Even full-time professionals need to rehearse for weeks before a big production tour, and at the moment, they can't.

Staging and streaming a full production would cost the same as it always does, and online tickets for a fiver will simply not cover those costs. Not unless they get an audience of hundreds of thousands.

It's a good idea, but practically it wouldn't work.

For singing you need to be twice as far away, ie 4m.

I watched the livestream performance of Lungs from the Old Vic last night and it was amazing! Clearly it was a well chosen play having only two characters but it was otherwise stripped back with no set or lighting etc. But it was live and visceral and utterly engaging. I probably wouldn't have travelled to see it (clearly I didn't travel to see when I could have done last year) but what a fabulous fundraiser for the theatre. Eight sold out performances this week - tickets across the usual price brackets. Really hope that they do another.

I am with you OP. I would pay, even without covid, I would pay😁
I live in't north, very rural. For me to go to ANY theatre, it is a major expedition and exoense. It is all very well for those in large cities to want the whole experience, I just want some of it!
If a performance was simply streamed live (Les Mis), it surely cannot cost that much?

I would even subscribe - a monthly or annual subscription, and would give said subscriptions as gifts. There could potentially be a lucrative market here.

Sorry, I actually typed the post above at about 3pm, but it didnt post until now - and there have been lots of posts in between 😶

I would pay £5 to watch at home, I generally go to the theatre about once a month with my friend but we sit in the cheap seats, usually paying around £15 each, can’t see that happening again anytime soon. We’ve really missed our trips and although it wouldn’t be exactly the same it’d be better than nothing

As an aside, has anyone seen Hamilton on Disney+? It’s my new favourite musical, can’t wait to see it on the live stage

As an aside, has anyone seen Hamilton on Disney+? It’s my new favourite musical, can’t wait to see it on the live stage

Twice yesterday and several times in London

Even after seeing it live multiple times and listening to the soundtrack hundreds of times I am still picking up things I have missed

Wow, Do you think they read this thread yesterday?

Govt. announced £1.6 billion lifeline for theatre/arts today.

waltzingparrot there was an online campaign last week. The money announced today is welcome, let's see the detail. The current Culture., Media and Sport Secretary has not convinced me as knowing much about his area.