Pandemic drama: How England's theatre organisations responded to the Covid-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, workers in the UK’s theatre and performing arts sector were among those most negatively affected. Some of these negative impacts relate to historic structural issues including inequalities within the workforce, funding gaps and disparities, and unsustainable business models. During the crisis, the theatre sector made and accelerated changes to the strategies and modes used to make work and engage with audiences, including through digital adaptation and distribution. Alongside enforced and repeated closure of buildings, these shifts challenged organisations of all scales to make radical decisions and tackle issues of productivity, quality, capacity, and skills. Lockdown experiences of making and watching theatre have raised important questions about the future roles of physical spaces, shared or synchronous experiences and definitions of authenticity, and regarding audience perceptions of the relative value of digital and live performance. They have drawn closer attention to inequalities of access of all kinds. Innovative and adapted models for engagement using remote, hybrid and blended formats have been trialled. Intensified attention has been paid towards the social and civic role of theatre. In this chapter we examine these phenomena and discuss their implications. We build on research engaging with theories and concepts drawn from arts management, cultural leadership, cultural value, cultural policy studies and audience studies.

At the chapter’s heart are the insights gained from over 50 semi-structured depth interviews undertaken throughout 2020-21 with professionals working in theatre organisations across England. These experiences are also explored in depth via three short illustrative case studies.