Nearly 40% of theatre and arts workers in London have been made redundant since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to ITV News.
Many of the workers, including backstage and bar staff working at the capital’s biggest venues, have also struggled to access vital Government support schemes such as furlough.
Of those who did receive support, more than half say the payments were so small they were unable to pay their household bills.
The findings come from an ITV News survey, conducted alongside the union Bectu, of more than 1,000 people living or working in London’s theatre, TV production, and live events industries.
It comes exactly one year since theatres closed in the UK, a day known in the industry as ‘Dark Monday’ due to the devastating impact of the pandemic on London’s West End.
Responding to the survey, famous West End actor Michael Ball described the findings as “heartbreaking”.
The survey found:
* 39% of workers had been made redundant at some point during the last year
* 20% have been unable to receive any financial support payment from the Government (including Furlough and the Self-Employment Income Scheme (SEISS)
* 49% say the payments were not big enough to cover their household bills
* More than 54% workers have lost more than half their income during the last year
* Nearly 60% have considering quitting the industry altogether because of the impact of pandemic
Will the West End ever recover?
Worth reading in full.
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My 18 year old granddaughter has been going to a school of dance since she was 3 and studied dance and Choreography at college and was supposed to take up a degree course at Falmouth university last year.
She is now planning to go this year.
If she is unable to follow her life’s dream, I and countless parents and grandparents along with the young people themselves will never, ever forgive this hysterical overreaction by our leaders and especially their “experts and advisers” and most of all the collaborators and sheep that enabled this madness to continue.
Shame on you all.
They know what they are doing !
From an article in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/why-authoritarians-attack-the-arts.html
“But as Hitler understood, artists play a distinctive role in challenging authoritarianism. Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders. Art teaches us that lives other than our own have value. Like the proverbial court jester who can openly mock the king in his own court, artists who occupy marginalized social positions can use their art to challenge structures of power in ways that would otherwise be dangerous or impossible.”
Exactly