Building back stronger.
28/9/2021 written by Romy Journée
It’s no secret that Covid-19 brought the UK theatre industry to its knees. From unclear furlough legislation leaving performers exempt from government assistance, or the culture secretary suggesting performers retrain in other fields, the arts have been repeatedly neglected throughout this pandemic period. Just this summer, we were seeing entire West End musicals closing for ten days after a single positive covid case in the company, a rule which prompted Andrew Lloyd Webber to close his brand new Cinderella musical right before opening night. The Tony award winning composer explosively stated he couldn’t justify the financial losses; Cinderella was operating at an approximately £100,000 loss due to these sporadic closures and theatres running at half capacity (1). For many performers, like Street Theatre’s Georgina Castle, who plays a stepsister in the production, the reliability of their employment was still very precarious.
Georgina Castle performing with Street Theatre during the pandemic.
Now, we are starting to see some sense of normalcy return. Many theatres are still operating at a loss due to the lack of tourism - but the industry is fighting to keep London’s beloved theatre scene alive. If anything good has come from the hardships this industry has suffered, it’s the strengthened resilience of its wonderful performers. Adapting in such a dynamic profession is an expectation many performers have, but Street Theatre soprano, Catherine Hooper, remarks that “I had to find multiple side gigs to make ends meet, and some of my regular work disappeared. It was demoralising at times, since a lot of the work was nothing to do with my training, but I did try things I have never thought I would and learned how resourceful I can be.” Now that the industry is coming back, there have been demands for it to ‘come back better’ - with better safety nets for freelance performers, more respect for the industry, and to champion more creative, diverse content. “Covid has forced everyone to re-examine what music means and has to offer people,” notes Street Theatre soprano Natasha Jouhl, while Catherine adds “I hope performers will be more discerning with their time and energy coming out of the pandemic. I think we are going to see a shift in how musicians are treated.”
Street Theatre emerged from the need to bridge the gap between full time contractual work in the arts industry. Working so closely with our performers during the pandemic and beyond has allowed us to evolve with the wishes of performers at the forefront of our vision. The performance industry is one that evidently doesn’t offer many casual opportunities in the way that other industries do, which is what makes it necessary for performers to have a side gig that is unrelated to the career they’re trained in. While there is nothing wrong with taking up such a different job, it shouldn’t necessarily have to come to this; by providing these casual opportunities for performers, Street Theatre aims to ensure that performers can hone their craft on their own terms.
Natasha Jouhl performing with Street Theatre
And if there was ever a time to emerge as a new arts company, it is certainly now - not only are Street Theatre supporting a new theatre scene, but are bringing performance back to audiences who have undoubtedly been starved for such entertainment during the pandemic. “Music is a gift, and Street Theatre has helped with this enormously,” says Natasha. “To be able to offer a few minutes of music to people without them needing to leave their homes is very special, especially in times of covid.” Performers and performance lovers shared the same loss of a special industry, and we aimed to show during the height of the pandemic that you don’t need to travel to the West End to see a quality performance, if that is not feasible to you. As we continue to expand and flourish, we can only hope that our mission was, and continues to be, successful!
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jul/19/andrew-lloyd-webber-cancels-cinderella-opening-night-covid