Far from being over dramatic, the future of theatres, according to Dominic Cavendish, is bleak. Indeed, in his piece for The Telegraph, Cavendish pulls no punches in his consideration of the situation: “here it is: the feared Doomsday scenario is starting to play out before our eyes.”
Cameron Mackintosh, among the world’s most successful producers, has postponed shows until an unspecified point next year. Mackintosh, who has been on the scene since the mid-1980s, is not alone in his frustration with the government and concern as to what comes next.
For those hoping the grab a seat at Hamilton, or watch Les Mis once more, this is not your year. In Cavendish’s words: “The final un-supercalifragilistic twist is that there’ll be no merry Christmas outing for Mary Poppins either.”
Cavendish believes that the root cause behind this closure, was thanks to “a combination of official dithering, laissez-faire complacency and Covid crisis-beset confusion is threatening to rain ruin upon treasured cultural infrastructure.”
While Cavendish believes it is possible for us to survive the summer without these shows, he notes: “as the nights draw in, Shaftesbury Avenue is going to become a very mournful place indeed.”
He concludes, bemoaning the lack of action from Oliver Dowden, stating the culture secretary has “spoken out too seldom on this issue so far” and that “three long months on, the reassurances given need to be far more robust; theatre's survival needs urgent prioritisation.”
One hopes Dowden and his government are able to act, sooner rather than later.
