London’s West End Faces Existential Crisis as Theaters Stay Dark

(Bloomberg) -- Agatha Christie’s murder mystery play, “The Mousetrap” has been staged continuously in London since 1952, making it the world’s longest-running show.

But the coronavirus lockdown brought the famous production to an abrupt halt in March, along with the musicals Les Miserables -- showing since 1985 -- and the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera -- staged since 1986.

As the U.K. faces months of restrictions on social gatherings, there’s no prospect of any of London’s West End hits opening again soon. Live theater in the land of William Shakespeare now faces a crisis from which many in the business fear it might never fully recover.

When the lights went out at the end of a production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre on March 14, the actors didn’t know it was for the last time. Two days later, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Britons to avoid theaters.

“Our business model just stopped,” Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Robert Hastie said. “We lost nearly 90% of the money coming in, and that is presenting us with enormous business problems.”

The government’s 60-page strategy for getting the U.K. working again, published on Monday, doesn’t mention reopening the country’s more than 1,000 theaters.

Even as the U.K. takes what Johnson called its first “baby steps” to get the economy moving, the virus makes it hard for theaters to host audiences. Social distancing rules -- with people required to keep two meters apart in public -- are “here to stay,” according to ministers.

Too Risky

“If social distancing is maintained, theaters will not be able to open: simple as that,” said Rebecca Kane Burton, Chief Executive Officer of LW Theatres, Lloyd Webber’s portfolio of venues.

The industry operates by packing strangers into cramped auditoriums, with actors in close contact on stage and support crews behind the scenes.

“A West End production can cost 5 to 7 million pounds before it even hits the stage,” Kane Burton said. “Theater producers are already incredibly bold for doing this in a normal environment. With social distancing in place, why would you take the risk with no prospect of breaking even, let alone any of the upside?”

The pandemic poses a threat to venues from the smallest provincial theaters to London’s West End, which draws tourists from all over the world to see musicals such as “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “Mamma Mia!” According to Kane Burton, musical theaters need to be at 60%-70% capacity just to cover costs.

There are already casualties. The Artrix Arts Centre in Bromsgrove stopped trading in April. Nuffield Southampton Theatres went into administration on May 6. The Old Vic, one of London’s most prestigious theaters, is in a “seriously perilous” financial situation, Artistic Director Matthew Warchus told the Guardian.

“Progressively as you go through June, July, August and into September, theaters just start having cash-flow issues,” said Julian Bird, Chief Executive Officer of U.K. Theatre. He said the industry will need government assistance not just for actors and theaters but for the “whole ecology” of the sector, including agents, lighting and sound designers, set builders, and costume and wig makers.

The performing arts and associated creative industry contributed 9.9 billion pounds to the U.K. economy last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Beyond the economic value, they improve the lives of millions of people.

On Thursday, 245 musicians from 30 West End shows and major orchestras wrote to members of Parliament to warn the performing industries face “annihilation.”

“They will be instrumental not only in getting our country back on its feet again, but in reminding us what life is supposed to be about,” they wrote.

Tax Holidays

Some support is available. The government has brought in tax holidays, grants and a program for the state to pay the wages of furloughed workers through October and Arts Council England has announce a 160 million-pound ($195 million) emergency fund.

“We are working with the creative and cultural sectors to plan for the future, understand their challenges and consider a variety of ways to ensure safe working,” the Culture Department said in a statement. “As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be encouraging everyone to visit the U.K.’s vibrant entertainment venues.”

But many of the industry’s self-employed workers fall through the cracks in support programs, and the funding so far doesn’t come close to replacing revenue: U.K. theaters took in 1.3 billion pounds in 2018, with a combined audience of more than 34 million people. Last year, London’s West End alone took in 800 million pounds.

Even if theaters are allowed to re-open, they’ll face major logistical difficulties. Long-running shows may need new cast members as well as fresh marketing campaigns to drive ticket sales, according to Kane Burton. Venues without a show will need months to audition and rehearse, as well as to build sets and arrange costumes.

Then there is the question of how to make venues safe. LW Theatres has bought hundreds of self-sanitizing door handles to test. The company is also looking at taking temperatures, providing staff with protective equipment and encouraging the public to wear face masks. Other measures could include deep cleaning and one-way systems for audiences moving around the buildings.

Giles Watling, a Conservative member of Parliament who’s spent 55 years in show business, said he’s urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to ensure the arts don’t get put to “the back of the queue” as they do “so often.” He stressed the importance of protecting regional theaters which feed the more resilient London West End, adding that the industry “is a vital part of our world offer.”

“It is what we do best and it sells U.K. Plc to the world,” Watling said in an interview. “From Shakespeare and others onwards, we have led the world on this, and if we lose that, we have lost something that is incredibly valuable.”

In Sheffield, Hastie said the greatest concern is what happens at year-end, when the traditional program of holiday pantomimes and musicals would normally bring in a large proportion of annual income.

“The big fear that everybody’s got is can Christmas be made to work?” he said. “If we can’t do Christmas, things will look even bleaker.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.