My Hopes For Theatre Post-Pandemic.

There is no doubt in my mind that theatres reopening is one of the things I have desperately waited for post-lockdown. Government planned for the next stage of the roadmap to include theatres from the 17th May and to be able to feel that atmosphere of sitting in a theatre is one that I’ll never take for granted again. However good it’ll be to have those experiences of seeing a show for the first or 100th time again, it has given me time to reflect on important discussions on what the future of theatre needs to look like. There’s no question that things need to change in order for this industry to flourish more than its ever done before, especially after the last 12 months.

Theatre didn’t go away and hide for 12 months, the work and dedication from some organisations across the country have ensured the show must go on. Hats off to the Barn Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Curve and some fantastic companies who have just done that in such challenging circumstances. In those months of isolation and uncertainty, being able to enjoy theatre from our homes has shown that theatre can do so much more, even after the pandemic is over. I have so many favourite streams from the last 12 months (which on e day I will share further for sure!).

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Continuing to Stream performances is essential to break down barriers..

Streaming is a fantastic way of bringing down barriers for audiences who may not be able to access theatre more traditionally. The future of theatre needs to continue to build on this platform for that reason alone. The ability to support those audiences by bringing theatre to them makes your reach so much greater. Of course up and down the country theatres are fantastic at providing a range of performances to suit specific needs (audio description, dementia friendly etc) but that isn’t enough because there’s still a percentage of people who wouldn’t be in that theatre, when they would definitely gain from the experience. Streaming performances definitely have a platform and reason to be around when “normality” resumes so I hope this is something on a lot of people’s considerations when curating work.

Innovation

This runs nicely through to my next point about innovation. The levels of innovative and inspiring work that has been presented to me through streams during 2020/21 shows a new era for the industry. Post pandemic is the perfect time to continue that and allow new musicals to emerge. There’s incredible writers out there doing exactly that, as much as I love the “traditional” big names in the industry, I crave new and exciting stuff to enjoy too! I am certainly not the only audience member thinking the same.

Representation

There has been a lot of conversation around representation around diversity in castings. I still feel like our industry has a lot of work to do here, conversations need to continue! Of course the recent news about “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast tour announces full cast” gives us some hope, there’s still places where representation is still wrong. As an industry its our job to inspire the younger generation to believe in it, therefore showing them fair representation on that stage does that job. Our industry needs to believe in change, instead of tradition. The stage needs to begin reflecting a society of 2021 and being brave enough to do that. Now is the time to see more communities from different backgrounds being represented not only on stage, but behind the scenes too. Representation in the sense of sexual orientation, height and weight too! There are some fantastic advocates for this conversation in the community but its important as the audience to become involved too!

Treat the cast right!

The news that Phantom of the Opera would be reducing their orchestra from 27 to 14 when it plans to reopen in July caused outrage, not surprising. Mackintosh stood by his move stating,  “Am I sorry? I’m sorry they’re upset, but I do find it odd why musicians would want to keep doing the same thing year after year. I believe we should not be holding jobs for actors or musicians ad infinitum. This is not the Civil Service, we’re creating art” is a bold statement for sure. Shows like the Phantom, aren’t Phantom without the haunting notes from which the orchestra have played for years. Music is a fundamental element of the shows, we need them in order to succeed although I think we will see this happen more regularly over the months. Whilst I’m on this subject, can we stop announcing cast announcements through Twitter before notifying those people who auditioned? It’s incredibly mean and doesn’t reflect a thoughtful industry. Remember those people have worked HARD in that audition room and deserve a little bit of consideration. I’ve seen this happen so much over the last few months and it has to change!

Theatre prices, theatre prices, theatre prices. Where does it say that £100+ is a considerate price for a West End show? We need to look at how we can viably charge those prices to see a show when theatres reopen. We’re all probably having some effects financially from the past 12 months, so it needs to be looked into if we expect the houses to be full when they can be.

Can we be patient with our audiences too? Some of us are incredibly anxious about coming into rooms full of people, for some of us it would have been an incredibly long time. We need to be cautious of the wellbeing of our cast and audience to ensure a smooth transition and comfortability in those auditoriums. I’ll be going to London for Amelie in June and will be sharing my own experiences.

Above everything else, I hope theatre survives. We’ve had a difficult 12 months and even in Leicester the pandemic caused the Haymarket Theatre to close. There is news that there may be a future for it but its a reminder of the fragility of this industry and how it has snatched away some beautiful venues already. Here’s to a brighter 2021 for the industry, the show must certainly go on. Let’s hope it’s plain sailing from the 17th May and the thunderous applauses from the audiences will put the events of 2020 firmly in the back of our minds.

How do you feel about theatre’s reopening? What do you hope for the future of the industry when the curtains go up?