Theatres and Pantomime producers have begun to count the costs of the 2020 panto cancellations, that wave of destruction with effectively cancelled Christmas.
Come Christmas each year theatres across the United Kingdom breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Santa is almost with them and with him not only the Christmas Panto but in most cases profit enough from this one event will fill the coffers of the theatre bringing in 50% of its yearly income.
The distinctly British institution of the pantomime for many theatres fills a gap as a funding source that is irreplaceable. We, therefore, thought it was time to start counting the cost of what looks like panto devastation and a massacre of merriment for many.
Conservatively (according to The Stage newspaper) the 2020-21 annual descent into panto pandemonium this Christmas was expected to bring in over £90 million in revenue with QDOS alone accounting for almost £50 million of that from its 34 pantomimes at some of the UK’s largest venues.
Over 3 million people make a regular pilgrimage to their local panto each year with their family. Theatres use this opportunity to raise as much as they can through the sale of merchandising and treats. It was once said for many regional venues “No Panto – No Pinter” and its smack on the money.
Not only that but for many theatre staff, freelancers, technical suppliers, actors, musicians, dance and acting schools, costumiers and set builders panto each year is the culmination of months of work. The resulting magic people enjoy on stage each year takes hundreds and hundreds of extraordinarily talented people to bring together. For many, working on a freelance basis and ineligible for government assistance since March, with no work due to theatre closures, the cancellation of panto is the final nail in the coffin. There are no exact figures from it is estimated that over 4000 people fall into this category, I am seriously starting to doubt they will be hanging around for when the industry reboots in the New Year (if it reboots in the New Year).
Can you imagine having your ability to earn an income taken away from you? To be told you have to exist any way you can for a year then maybe you can work again. Trust me when I say some of us in the support industries around theatre had to also come to terms with this and it’s causing huge problems for families and the mental health of the workforce instead of bolstering our pride having bought about the happiest time of the year as theatre folk do each year come Panto season.
There’s an underbelly to this as well. For children across the UK, panto is their first ever experience of live theatre. It’s one of our greatest tools to bring children into their local venue and excite them enough that they may come back as they grow up to sample some of the other amazing things theatre can do. That sugar-coated enticement has given the UK once of the most amazing theatre networks on the planet. Theatres, performance companies, artists and all manner of people are given an opportunity to work in the arts because of these venues. It’s why the UK has such a rich cultural tapestry and why Shakespeare, Stoppard, and Lloyd Webber amongst many many others have flourished here. This year apart from the damage done apparently by missing school, they will also miss their induction to the theatre via panto.
Rishi Sunack stated yesterday that it has now become clear that even if the £1.57 billion turns up (it hasn’t yet) the crown jewels must be saved and other things will alas have to be sacrificed. “IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE TO SAVE EVERYTHING!” For me, that is perhaps the saddest and most depressing part of this whole thing.
Ultimately, the cost may well be that large parts of our culture represented and nurtured by venues will disappear. Churchill made a famous comment during World War II along the lines that cutting the arts budget was out of the question, otherwise what were we fighting for.
That question needs to be asked again now. The arts are a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s self-regenerates with the results in the West End alone helps to power a massive tourist industry and all of the associated hospitality businesses that go with it.
Please if you love the theatre, write to your local MP, to Oliver Dowden and Rishi Sunak to tell them they must work out how to get theatres back on track financially and through well thought out guidance giving the industry rough working dates. This industry is more than happy to help make things work, it is also responsible enough to know we have one chance to get things right but we can’t write off an industry hoping there might be a way of rebuilding from the rubble.
