Days Just after Reopening, London Theaters Ought to Shut

LONDON — On Dec. 5, “Six” — the strike display about the wives of Henry VIII — staged a triumphant comeback when it became the 1st musical to be staged in London’s West Conclusion considering the fact that the coronavirus pandemic commenced in March.

Now, just 9 times later, that comeback has been brought to a sharp halt.

Matt Hancock, Britain’s health and fitness secretary, announced on Monday that the authorities was tightening restrictions in London, as properly as other sections of southern England, simply because of a “very sharp, exponential rise” in coronavirus circumstances. The new limits, which consist of a ban on theatrical performances and the closure of other indoor cultural establishments, like museums, would take influence Wednesday, he added. Pubs and dining places would also near, nevertheless they could even now offer you takeout.

“For firms influenced, it will be a sizeable blow, but this action is unquestionably vital,” Hancock said, addressing Britain’s Parliament.

Several theaters in London have been closed because the beginning of the pandemic, in March, however some smaller exhibits returned in the summer time, with diminished audiences and socially distanced performers.

In November, some key productions, such as “Six,” have been slated to return, but the British federal government introduced a countrywide lockdown that scrapped their designs.

That lockdown lifted on Dec. 2 and England moved to a tiered technique of restrictions, with differing rules all over the country, which include for cultural events.

Monday’s announcement that London would go to “tier 3,” the maximum amount of constraints, was “devastating for the city’s globe-top theater market,” Julian Hen, main government of the Society of London Theatre, stated in a information launch.

“The previous several days have seen venues beginning to reopen with superior concentrations of Covid stability, welcoming back again enthusiastic, socially distanced audiences,” he added. Theaters across London “will now be compelled to postpone or terminate prepared performances, causing catastrophic economic troubles for venues, producers and countless numbers of market personnel,” he mentioned.

A number of theater producers echoed those people remarks in statements. The closure was “a hammer blow to an business which has been battling valiantly to carry culture and community to people’s lives this Xmas,” Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook, the producers of “The Fantastic Gatsby,” stated in a joint e mail.

Britain’s government had “created a problem where thousands and thousands of kilos have been invested on re-launching productions and shut them down just as earnings is about to be produced,” the statement included.

Quite a few theaters had started presenting holiday getaway fare, which includes quite a few pantomimes, a especially British theater type, well-known at Christmas: The Countrywide Theater’s generation “Dick Whittington” opened on Friday, and “Pantoland,” at London Palladium, started its run on Saturday.

Kenny Wax, one of the producers of “Six,” explained in a phone interview that he felt “incredible disappointment for all people who’s labored so hard” to carry exhibits back again to the West End following the nationwide lockdown.

Wax claimed he anticipated the closure in London would very last at least 4 months. All through that time, workers on his productions had been not likely to be paid, he stated, adding that to do that without having earnings coming in from ticket gross sales would bankrupt his firm. But he said he hoped to get his demonstrates back again on as quickly as possible to get cash flowing to the numerous freelance artists who function on “Six” — not just the actors, but the musicians, technicians and ushers.

“If from now it’s ‘a couple of weeks on, a number of months off,’ we’ll possibly continue to keep undertaking that,” he claimed. “We’ll retain striving.”