Images of empty museums, cinemas, concert halls and galleries across the country are quickly becoming emblems of our changing life. And this weekend there is fresh speculation that the world’s biggest arts festival in Edinburgh will not take place this August.

The end of live performance and public cultural activity is one of the most comprehensive of the myriad shocks to the British economy, as well as to a sense of normality. Theatre doors were closed by a puritanical English regime in 1642, but this total shutdown covers every form of shared entertainment and built heritage. And what now worries the country’s arts institutions is how this world-beating resource can be protected during lockdown.

The lights began to go out in the West End of London last Monday when the prime minister classed theatres and cinemas among places to avoid. The Old Vic, where Daniel Radcliffe was starring, reluctantly brought down the curtain first.

Almost every other production and solo show in the land followed. From the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon and the opera house in Covent Garden to a popular touring production of Helen Forrester’s work By the Waters of Liverpool, the news was the same. The sentiments of Rob Fennah, this new show’s writer and co-producer, were typical: “We’re not going to let this get the better of us. We will relaunch early next year, bigger, bolder and as glorious as ever!”

As Boris Johnson was speaking, almost a week ago, thousands of actors, musicians and comedians were still preparing to perform. At London’s small and unsubsidised Jermyn Street Theatre, a highly acclaimed new production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with veteran star Michael Pennington, went on with the director reading a part played by an actor who had suddenly been put into isolation by new symptoms. On Tuesday, a final performance was filmed without an audience. In Eastbourne, the cast of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, starring Matthew Kelly, swiftly organised a similar filmed performance on Wednesday. The actors did not want to walk away without a record.

From self-isolation, Melvyn Bragg told the Observer it would be difficult for artists to boost general morale, as Myra Hess did during the war by playing piano in the National Gallery. “It is much worse than what we know of the blitz, sadly,” said Lord Bragg. “Theatres did not all shut in the blitz. This is a different thing altogether because performers are endangering everyone.”

The government’s initial advice to the public prompted anger from many commentators.The playwright Lucy Prebble said that it was unfair to leave the decision up to imperilled arts companies and venues. “What a dereliction of duty,” she argued on Twitter, “to pass on the decision to confused small business owners, performers and consumers.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Two visitors look over the gate of Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Straford-on-Avon, now closed to the public. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Society of London Theatre, having been forced to cancel the Olivier awards, spoke on Friday on behalf of the major booking companies to reassure those with tickets. Everyone will be contacted with a credit note or refund, it promised: “There is nothing you need to do.”

Big-name comedians such as Rob Brydon have had to abort their touring schedules. “Refunds are available,” he announced on social media, “Let’s stay safe.”

The reactions of such prominent stars are the most noticed, but well known names are at least often financially cushioned. Supporting cast and stage crew have nowhere to look for work. This weekend they may have been able to take some comfort from Rishi Sunak’s revised provisions to protect vulnerable businesses and those in rented homes. But the chancellor’s latest measures are not enough, according to Christine Payne, the general secretary of the actors’ union, Equity.

“Entertainment workers have been badly let down by the government,” she said. “The chancellor claims that ‘any employer’ will be eligible for the job retention scheme – not in our sector. Suspension of the universal credit minimum income floor and tax deferrals are a drop in the ocean compared to the losses experienced by our members, and fall far short of the support available to workers elsewhere in the economy.

“We will fight on to put the case for our members who have provided billions in revenue for the UK but are not being protected in their hour of need.”​

Last week saw the cancellation of Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary festival, with headliners Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift asked to bide their time. Deposits already paid by fans were rolled over for a year. Eurovision is also over before it began. Yet both rock and classical musicians, denied access to an audience, have been among the first to react by trying to reach the public online.

Singers including Rufus Wainwright have been posting solo performances recorded at home for fans, and on Friday the London Symphony Orchestra released details of Always Playing, a digital programme of concerts which will be streamed free on the LSO YouTube channel this month and next, replacing its scheduled performances at the Barbican in London. The Royal Opera House has also unveiled a selection of free ballets and operas available on its Facebook and YouTube channels.

Perhaps the most unnerving cultural news for the wider population has been the production paralysis of filmed and televised drama, mainstays of the national conversation. Continuing series such as the BBC’s EastEnders and Holby, and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, have either been paused or scaled down. ITV has changed the scheduling of Coronation Street and Emmerdale, but aims to continue filming in Manchester and Leeds “whilst carefully adhering to the latest health advice”.

Postponed alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond, who will not be operational again until next year, is Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan. But much of the entertainment impact will not be felt until next year, as filming of hit returning drama series including the BBC’s Peaky Blinders and Netflix’s The Crown and Stranger Things, has all halted, in addition to all major movie productions.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A near-deserted South Bank outside the Tate Modern gallery in London last week. Photograph: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock

Warner Brothers has suspended production on The Batman while another Disney live-action remake, The Little Mermaid, is now waiting indefinitely in the wings. In addition, Jurassic World: Dominion is no longer being filmed by Universal. Tom Hanks, perhaps the world’s highest-profile coronavirus sufferer, was to play “Colonel Tom” Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of Elvis Presley, but production stopped well before he and his wife could finish their period of isolation together in Australia.

On Thursday, organisers of the Cannes film festival admitted defeat. The showcase on the Côte d’Azur has been shifted back to high summer at the earliest. In London, the British Film Institute’s Flare festival was also cancelled, although hopes that the main film festival can go ahead in October have survived. Also on the upside, several distributors are now releasing major films straight to streaming services. The new version of Jane Austen’s Emma and the sci-fi thriller The Invisible Man, both released in cinemas just three weeks ago, will be available on the small screen this week.

Even the world of books has been affected, with the cancellation of the Hay festival. The annual event makes more than £20m for its host, Hay-on-Wye, but organisers have said they believe that skipping a year means its existence is threatened. Making an appeal for donations, Peter Florence, the director of Hay, said: “As we face these coming weeks of uncertainty and isolation we will work hard to carry forward our spirit of togetherness, and to share stories and ideas.”

In the early stages of this crisis, the arts have become more than a symbol of national pain: they are a way to respond and to communicate, as well as a welcome distraction.

Before performers and companies could check whether the chancellor’s new measures would help them, many were offering to perform online. Actors Samuel West and Lisa Dwan will read out requested work, while artists and music teachers have set up lessons. Book and film clubs have gone virtual.

The BBC is to broadcast Culture in Quarantine, a virtual festival of the arts. The corporation’s head of arts, Jonty Claypole, explained: “For me, a precious ray of sunshine has emerged in the clear determination of artists, performers, curators and producers to keep creating and connecting with audiences.”

Arts venues put life on hold





Tristram Hunt. Photograph: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock

Tristram Hunt

V&A director

We all feel great sorrow. Our cultural role in civic society has had the rug pulled out from under it. But we had to respond to the dramatic escalation this week. There had been no clear message from government, but this situation is so hard and we’ve not had sight of the information the advisers are seeing, nor of what the consequences are. And, of course, we are an arms’ length national body and we normally like that. Initially we thought we had until the end of last week, so we operated a 50/50 system, with half the staff going in on alternate days, but we closed on Wednesday after the prime minister’s announcement. Since then I’ve been in meetings with our estates management team working out how to secure and look after this 160-year-old building and ensure the safety of a collection that belongs to everybody. Things are changing every day so we are constantly catching up. Staff are understandably anxious and full of confusion so the job was to try to be clear. We have made no redundancies, but we have had to work through our contractual obligations with events management and that kind of thingand the like.

We are dealing with set designers and lighting designers, people who we don’t want to leave in the lurch. Our caterers and cleaners are part of large outside organisations which should be fairly stable I hope.

We are now looking at giving more access to the collection online.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Catherine Mallyon. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/WireImage

Catherine Mallyon

RSC executive director

Actors do live with uncertainty, like many other freelancers, but that is in the context of there being other work out there in the West End, or in regional theatre or on telly. This situation is materially different. We are like a family in a way, because actors are with the company for such a long time. So they have that support network and we have offered more, largely online.

At Christmas our planners picked up on news of the spread of the virus and so we increased hygiene immediately. We thought we were likely to have to suspend, but we were not prepared for the sudden nature of it. On a day when there were performances at 7pm, 5.30pm was difficult.

Now we are working around the clock to protect people and let them know what is happening, as we know it. We’ve given a reassurance we won’t leave anyone who was working unpaid. But we can’t do this for an unlimited length of time. We will work in staging posts towards reopening. We could take out a loan, but we wouldn’t have any income to repay it with after a certain point. It is going to have a huge effect on the whole economy of Stratford.

Our digital content is going to be available to schools and we want to revive the shows that were in rehearsal, The Winter’s Tale and A Comedy of Errors. We hope we have not lost them.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kwame Kwei-Armah. Photograph: Dan Wooller/REX/Shutterstock

Kwame Kwei-Armah

Young Vic artistic director

I did have a little cry on Tuesday. And then I thought, “How can I serve?”

This pandemic shows us not only how fragile we are, but how fragile our whole economy is. We have told staff we will meet our payroll obligations, including to front-of-house staff, and look after our freelancers.

No one knows how long this coronavirus pandemic will last, but we are looking at planning for three months to start with. We have closed down some of our discretionary expenditure straight away and sadly on Friday we closed down the building.

We had wanted to keep it open as a place for people to come, and so we spaced out the seating and gave away free tea and coffee.

We have modelled this now, so we can do it again in the future when it is needed.

We have mothballed the premiere of our house music opera, Orfeus, and are looking for ways to bring it back, as well as to see if the production of Second Woman, which was to be part of the cancelled Lift festival, can come back.

Our core mission is about gathering people and so we are going to try to do that digitally now, if we can’t do it physically any more.