Letter from London: Theatres are Open, It’s Time to Celebrate
- June 1, 2021
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Nicola Seed
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Nicola Seed is a London-based theatre producer. She works with Paul Elliott, one of London’s preeminent producers whose career spans 50 years. Mirvish theatregoers will recognize his name from the hundreds of productions he has brought to Toronto since the early 1970s. Nicola writes to us about her experience with theatre during the pandemic.
Friday March 13th, 2020 was the last day I had the opportunity of being in a rehearsal room. Unfortunately, it was to tell the actors of The Boy Friend — who were in the final weeks of preparations for the production that would be playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre — that the production was cancelled and they would not be flying to Toronto to perform it.
(For that matter, nor would they be coming back into this rehearsal room or any theatre for the foreseeable future because public life as we knew it had been paused. “And please make sure you take all of your belongings with you …”)
Fast forward 14 months. After a couple of false starts in 2020, theatres in the UK began reopening on May17th. This truly is an exciting moment, especially as we had suffered devastatingly high infection rates throughout 2020, which resulted in severe and very long lockdowns. Thankfully, an extensive and very well organized vaccination programme turned everything around.
Almost all sectors of our society and economy have now reopened, albeit with reduced capacities, social distancing and masks. But everything is going very well and we are well on our way to being allowed full capacity by June 21st.
But it’s been a long road that we’ve been on, especially those of us who work in theatre because of our enduring love of it.
Theatre has had so many punches over the last year — who knew having a business that relies on people being able to congregate together indoors would be a risky model? — that to now be on the cusp of our world returning to full health feels like a miracle, a prayer answered.
At the beginning of the lockdown, it was important to be poised and ready for the ‘theatre switch’ to be turned back on. I am reminded of the many months when we worked in isolation and in darkness because of the lack of clarity and certainty. We had to keep reworking contracts, renaming and adjusting schedules, re-budgeting, re-evaluating the Covid protocols. And then we had to do it all over again as the dates we thought we could reopen theatres turned out to be nothing but a false hope.
Freelance friends who are specialists in costume and wigs — and who pre-Covid looked after seven or eight West End shows — suddenly found themselves unemployed and without any income. That was very tough on them and their families — and it lasted for 14 months!
Now, with the UK reopening roadmap progressing, with even less prep time than ever, my friends are working again. Every one of the shows that closed due to Covid has reopened or is due to do so very soon. To say that my friends are busy is an understatement! They would not dare to complain, but it is quite a feat switching theatres back on!
During the pandemic, there were some bright spots in the theatre. Some companies managed to create shows that could be safely produced and attended. I was lucky to attend two theatrical experiences: Blindness at the Donmar Warehouse and A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic.
Blindness was an absolute treat for the senses last summer, the first theatre event after a prolonged initial lockdown. I saw the final preview of A Christmas Carol in December. Sadly it turned out to be the show’s last performance. The next day, the government announced a new lockdown which didn’t end until recently.
What I enjoyed most at both shows — something I had always taken for granted — was the importance of the shared experience of entertainment. My theatregoing during the pandemic was mostly limited to watching drama and musicals on screens alone or with just one other person. At Blindness and A Christmas Carol, being in a room alive with real people simultaneously watching and reacting to the same thing is a brilliant reminder to what we have been missing!
Last week I made my first visit back to a theatre to see the new musical version of the French film Amelie, which is playing at the Criterion, a jewel of a theatre built in 1847. I’ve had both jabs and the Criterion, like all theatres in London, has all health measures in place, so I felt perfectly safe. I cannot begin to tell you how moved I was to have watched a company of excellent actors on stage bring me to laughter and tears (Amelie is the kind of story that, in turns, is both funny and sad). Sitting appropriately distanced in an auditorium of fellow theatregoers, I felt for the first time in over a year joy and hope and community — even with my mask on.
I’m confident this will be the beginning of many more visits to the theatre as we put this pandemic behind us, leave the isolation we’ve all lived with for so long, and once again embrace social life. It’s truly time to celebrate.
