Government plans to reopen theatre are almost worthless

The government has released a five step plan for theatres to reopen, which should be good news. Sadly, it isn’t worth the vellum it’s written on. “It’s not helpful in any way,” says Jez Bond, artistic director and joint CEO of the Park Theatre. “It’s a pointless exercise.” The problem is that steps three to five of the plan – the steps that will put actual bums on actual seats – have no dates attached to them. As Anthony Fagan, operations manager of the Lion and Unicorn theatre in Kentish Town puts it: “Without having any further information, all our plans are hypothetical.” Tom Littler, artistic director of the Jermyn Street Theatre goes further: “There’s no point rehearsing [a play] if we can’t put it on.”