What does the government's so-called Plan B mean for London's theatres?
In technical terms, the honest answer is 'very little'.
Because all theatres are seated and no theatres have a capacity of greater than 10,000, there is – at present – no requirement for them to introduce Covid passports (or require you to pass a lateral flow test).
The solitary major change is that it is now mandatory to wear a mask inside a theatre unless you’re eating, drinking or – astoundingly – singing. However, virtually every theatre in London had already asked this, and several major venues including the National Theatre had made it mandatory when the omicron variant first came to public attention, so it’s questionable exactly what the force of the law brings to the table beyond hopefully nudging up compliance (exactly what theatres can do about non-mask-wearers is pretty questionable, unless they take a very hard stance and are willing to disrupt shows for it).
To that end, most of the responses to it have constituted muted approval. SOLT – that’s the Society of London Theatre – has set the tone by dutifully noting that 'Theatres remain fully open and will continue to offer much-needed respite from the current challenges, in a safe and ordered environment. We are grateful to all our audiences for their ongoing support’.
The bigger question is what the unofficial impact will be: many theatres are already rushing to put out statements to soothe their customers with assurances that everything is just peachy beyond the need to mask up. But how happy audiences will be to continue to attend is the big question: anecdotally, there has already been an abrupt uptick in hospitality cancellations as a result of omicron and Plan B. You have to think that the same people may be nervous about cramming into a packed, sold-out theatre. Still, that’s all to be see: for now, the official line is mask up and carry on.
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