Dear Boris,

we hope you are well.

Here at London Theatre Reviews, we were wondering if you have been to the theatre, lately.

You know it better than us: the new tier restrictions that you and your Government have decided, will see theatres suffering more than ever, this winter, with venues in tier 3 shut down, and the ones in tier two with important capacity constraints.

Keeping the theatres closed will bring the industry to its knees.

You know, since you gave the OK to socially distancing indoor performances in August, many theatres never really reopened. And others have closed permanently.  But some theatres did.

So, dear Boris, the question is: have you been to the theatre since March? You can tell us (it’s going to be our secret, we promise). But we think you didn’t visit a theatre in these Covid times.

That’s a shame. And you know why? Because we did. We have been to the theatre recently.

We received online tickets and sanitised the hands at the entrance. They checked our temperatures and we showed the e-tickets on the phone. And of course we scanned the contact tracing code.

They showed our seats, and we watched the show, keeping the facemask on.

The other audience members, all of them wearing masks, were at least one metre away.

At the end of the show, we were told to leave the theatre, maintaining social distancing at all times and, before leaving, we sanitised our hands again.

We can’t think of a safer experience: for sure safer than a supermarket, a shop, a bar, a pub, a bus or tube. The theatre was safe.

Theatres are a safe place. No known cases of Covid-19 have been identified via NHS Test and Trace at any of their venues since reopening to the public. So, they are safe.

If you went to a theatre during these Covid times, you would have kept them open. And you would not keep them closed for other months. Not just because the industry is in a very fragile state, being one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. But because they are safe. People feel safe at the theatre.

Keeping the theatres closed to stop the virus is pointless. But you can’t know that. Because we are pretty sure that you haven’t gone to the theatre, lately.

See you in the tube, Boris. Oh, wait, no. You don’t take public transport.

Sincerely,

LTR

 

 

Photo: LBC