After a year since the 1st lockdown started the green shoots of a full reopening of the UK Theatres are beginning to emerge. After the challenges found in reopening in the autumn 2020 only to be closed again before Christmas it is no wonder some producers are reluctant to make the big commitment to open new shows.
Government steps
Officially if the Government timetable is maintained the steps are:
17th May- Indoor venues with half capacity up to maximum of 1000.
19th July- Indoor venues fully reopen (delayed from 21st June)
When you look through the list of announced shows for the West End only a handful of smaller low-cost production announced openings in the period 17th May to 21st June with some of the West End returning musicals, presumably sitting on large rolled over ticket advances have announcing openings this summer. Those shows opening for the first time like Back to the Future and Frozen have announced a cautious approach (end of August), presumably to allow a safe time to manage any delays in the timetable and allow plenty of rehearsal time before opening. Moulin Rouge is less specific at the Piccadilly saying Autumn 21.
The Mousetrap at St Martins after their failed attempt to reopen last year breaking its 67-year run opened on 17th May with an all-star cast. But Dear Even Hansen at the Noel Coward delayed restart until 26th October (despite announcing in July 2020 that it would be as early as practical) and the show that surely carries the biggest advance Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace (and perhaps the biggest weekly running costs) now opens on 14th October with tickets on sale from that date with many of the Year 4 cast staying on for another year.
Covid Testing
The big challenge is Covid testing for cast, crew, and audiences. It seems essential to do weekly or possibly daily testing on cast and crew and practical to do using the front of house spaces with an earlier call to check everyone with a well administered lateral flow test giving results within 30 minutes. This is a must to ensure the safe working backstage in confined spaces where social distancing & face masks are impossible and to prevent the loss of the cast as happened in Bath late last year but at a what additional cost? We have already seen Deathdrop and Hairspray miss performances due to self isolation impact , a heavy cost for Producers to bear.
The audience testing for all, but the smallest venues feel impossible. Where do people wait safely for the results even if the cost can be met? Passports or vaccinations/antibody certificates might help as used at the Wembley Euro events but will preclude many under 20’s for the foreseeable future and children can still carry the virus so how do you manage these? So realistically while reassurance measures (like face masks, one-way systems, and temperature checks) will be in operation for 2021 at least there can be no guarantees. This exposes Front of house staff as well as customers to risk. It will be interesting to see whether this risk puts off audiences desperate to return to theatre to any noticeable extent. In any case the greater risk is the train or tube journey to the venue not the theatre experience itself.
However, the real risk is another wave of infection and reimposing by Government restrictions on indoor venues with no chance of economically buying insurance for this risk. This is what will give producers (and their backers) and the casts sleepless nights until we all start to feel the virus is permanently under control. It is why Government is right to delay full reopening's until more are double vaccinated.
Audience Demand
While there is plenty of anecdotal and survey evidence of audiences’ willingness to return to live theatre and perhaps a sector of them willing to pay more for a safe experience, will this rush of enthusiasm be sustained and reach the smaller scale productions? What impact will lack of overseas tourists have on the overall sales and even will the closure of West End offices for more home working have an impact of sales of tickets. Walk up will surely be reduced and it will, for a while, be a booked planned trip to watch a must-see show. I am ready to go and have booked Back to the Future (the perfect feelgood fun show) and for Ian McKellen’s Hamlet out of town in Windsor (opening 21st June).
In the meantime, the ever-improving streaming services partially fills the void in our lives.
The West End Reopening plans
Here are the current opening plans for West End at time of writing (with original opening year in bracket)
Title | Venue | Reopening Date | Type | Capacity |
Austentious/Woman in Black (1989) | Fortune | 17 May 2021 | Returning | 432 |
Mousetrap (1952) | St Martins | 17 May 2021 | Returning with all-star cast | 550 |
ReEmerge Season | Harold Pinter | 22 May 2021 | Season of 3 plays | 796 |
Love Letters | Haymarket | 19 May 2021 | Transfer from Windsor | 889 |
DeathDrop (2020) | Garrick | 19 May 2021 | Returning with new cast for short run | 732 |
Season opens | Globe | 19 May 2021 | 3 Shakespeare plays | 400 |
Amelie | Criterion | 20 May 2021 | Transfer from Other Palace | 588 |
Everybody’s talking about Jamie (2017) | Apollo | 20 May 2021 | Returning | 775 |
Les Mis- Concert (1985) | Sondheim | 20 May 2021 | Returning for short run | 1074 |
Magic Mike (2018) | Hippodrome | 21 May 2021 | Returning | 325 |
Six (2019) | Lyric | 21 May 2021 | Returning for short run | 967 |
Dr Who Time Fracture | UNIT HQ | 26 May 2021 | New Immersive theatre | |
After Life | NT Dorfman | 2 June 2021 | New play | 120 |
Under Milk Wood | NT Olivier | 16 June 2021 | Revival in the round | 500 |
The play that goes wrong (2014) | Duchess | 18 June 2021 | Returning | 479 |
Full opening allowed over 1000 seats |
| Now delayed until 19 July 2021 | ||
Hairspray | Coliseum | 22 June 2021 | Delayed revival for limited run | 2359 |
Tina Turner (2018) | Aldwych | 24 June 2021 | Returning | 1200 |
Cinderella | Gillian Lynne | 25 June 2021 | New Premiere | 1024 |
Prince of Egypt (2020) | Dominion | 1 July 2021 | Returning | 2069 |
Joseph (2020) | Palladium | 1 July 2021 | Returning/Revival until 5th September | 2286 |
Pretty Woman (2020) | Savoy | 8 July 2021 | Returning transfer from Piccadilly | 1158 |
Come From away (2019) | Phoenix | 22 July 2021 | Returning | 1012 |
Phantom of Opera (1986) | Her Majesties | 21 July 2021 | Returning | 1216 |
Jersey Boys | Trafalgar | 28 July 2021 | Revival | 630 |
The Lion King (1999) | Lyceum | 29 July 2021 | Returning | 2100 |
Leopoldstadt (2020) | Wyndhams | 7 August 2021 | Returning for short run | 759 |
Mary Poppins (2019) | Prince Edward | 7th August 2021 | Returning | 1716 |
Hamilton (2017) | Victoria Palace | 19 August 2021 | Returning | 1550 |
Back To Future | Adelphi | 20 August | Transfer from Manchester | 1500 |
Six | Arts | 24 August | Transfer from lyric | 350 |
Frozen | Drury Lane | 27 August | UK Premiere | 2196 |
Mamma Mia (1999) | Novello | 25 August 2021 | Returning | 1105 |
Matilda (2011) | Cambridge | 16 September 2021 | Returning | 1231 |
Wicked (2006) | Apollo Victoria | 15 September 2021 | Returning | 2328 |
& Juliet (2019) | Shaftesbury | 24 September | Returning | 1400 |
Les Mis (1985) | Sondheim | 25 September | Restaged | 1074 |
Harry Potter & Cursed Child (2016) | Palace | 14 October 21 | Returning | 1400 |
Only Fools and Horses (2019) | Haymarket | 1 October 2021 | Returning | 893 |
Get up Stand Up | Lyric | 1 October 2021 | New Bob Marley Musical | 967 |
Magic Goes wrong (2019) | Vaudeville | 21 October | Returning | 690 |
Ocean at the end of the lane (2019) | Duke of York | 26 October | Transfer from NT | 640 |
Moulin Rouge | Piccadilly | Autumn 21 | UK Premiere | 1232 |
Drifters Girl | Garrick | 4 November | New Drifters musical | 732 |
Life of Pi | Wyndhams | 14th November 2021 | Transfer from Sheffield | 759 |
Dear Evan Hansen (2019) | Noel Coward | 26 October | Returning | 872 |
The Book of Mormons (2013) | Prince of Wales | 5th November 2021 | Returning with some rewrites | 1160 |
To Kill a Mockingbird | Gielgud | 10 March 2022 | New production | 986 |