Cancelled pantos decimated income at peak time as soaring cases caused cast and crew absences and restrictions cut audiences
As panto season draws to an end, Britain’s theatres are counting the cost of another Christmas wrecked by Covid, with cancelled shows decimating income during a traditionally lucrative period.
York Theatre Royal’s Cinderella – whose star and understudy both had to self-isolate – cancelled 12 performances with an estimated loss of up to £200,000. Theatr Clwyd’s Beauty and the Beast achieved ticket sales comparable to pre-Covid times but the Welsh government’s Covid restrictions, introduced on Boxing Day, led the venue to cancel all remaining performances, worth an estimated £500,000. At Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph theatre, almost half of Jack and the Beanstalk’s run was lost because of coronavirus cases in the company; now the theatre hopes to attract viewers to an online version this month.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3K6Hmlv
Comments
Post a Comment