East of England study shows theatre freelancers hit by pandemic

The coronavirus lockdowns have had a major impact on theatre freelancers leaving them pessimistic for the future, says the leader of a study.

Dr Holly Maples, of the University of Essex. said the "stops and starts" of the the lockdown prevented freelancers from being able to plan ahead.

She said many did not know whether they would be able to carry on in their profession.

The government said it had spent millions of pounds supporting theatre.

The first part of the report, called Freelancers in the Dark, found 72.4% of respondents felt more pessimistic about their future as a theatre freelancers.

Dr Maples, a senior lecturer at the East 15 Acting School at the Colchester university, said: "The closures of theatres greatly affected people's ability to plan and to carry on with the work they had been doing.

"A lot of people were kind of left high and dry, both by the organizations they were working with [that] couldn't pay them with the lack of ticket sales, obviously, and a large proportion, perhaps 60% to 70%, didn't get the government protection [of furlough payments]."

She said the project, which will produce a final report in 2022, had also found that many freelancers had found new skills.

"Freelancers have also been networking and organising and built up a sense of solidarity as they felt the government and the public were not necessarily valuing what they do," she added.

Freelance playwright and actor Subika Anwar, who lives in Northampton, said she believed the government should do more for people who are working for themselves in the arts, who have no long-term job security.

"There needs to be a lot more support for the theatre industry, and it's not just actors, it's all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes: the stage managers, the technicians, the producers," she said.

"We need all these skills, but the support isn't there."

A government spokeswoman said: "We have supported thousands of theatres through the pandemic with our unprecedented £2bn Culture Recovery Fund. This includes more than £20m to 70 theatre organisations in the East of England.

"This vital funding has protected thousands of organisations and jobs, creating work for freelancers."

The chief executive of Northampton's Royal and Derngate, Jo Gordon, has welcomed the government support for their venue, which has received more than £3m.

She said the audience would be required to wear facemasks at this year's pantomime - Dick Whittington.

"It's not a government mandate, but a decision we have taken locally. We anticipate that might become a more formal mandate," she said.

"By putting it in place now and sharing that message with audiences before they arrive we know we are doing everything we can to make people feel safe."

Ricky Champ, who plays bad boy Stuart Highway in EastEnders, will be playing King Rat in the panto and said restaurants and hotels were also hit by the closures of theatres.

He told BBC Politics East: "When theatre comes back, historically we've always seen a restoration period and this is it, because we're coming back."

Politics East airs on BBC One in the East on Sunday, 5 December at 10:00 GMT and can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer afterwards.

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