London theatres won't survive the impact of coronavirus without a cash injection

Theatre is the lifeblood of London.

Of course, as this newspaper’s currently-not-very-busy drama critic, and someone who’s been in thrall to live performance since my parents plonked me in front of Julius Caesar at the Open Air Theatre before I was 10, I would say that, wouldn’t I?

But it’s not hyperbole.

Theatre is the one art form – arguably the only business – where London truly leads the world.

And without urgent help it, and everything it supports and sustains, will be damaged for generations.

Theatre is the soul and the imagination of our city.

Our dramatic heritage is key to our national identity.

London’s rich and varied theatre ecology is not "just" a nice luxury for the rich any more than it is "just" a cash cow that generated £133million in VAT alone to the Treasury last year.

It’s a vital part of the fastest-growing sector of the UK economy, the creative industries which in London generates £40billion a year – and of the larger alchemy that makes this city such a thrilling place to live and visit.

Theatre stimulates the brain and the heart: its liveness stokes London’s buzz.

It feeds and is fed by a thriving hospitality industry and by tourism.

It trains the people who star in blockbusters and soaps, write TV series like Succession and Normal People, and direct Bond films.

It sustains cab drivers, bar staff and printing firms.

But as an industry where social distancing is economically, artistically and often physically unviable, it is more direly threatened than almost any other by Covid-19.

The numbers are stark.

The National Theatre is losing £4million to £5million - and the Old Vic is spending £350,000 of its reserves - every month.

Even when closed, it costs £30,000 a week to maintain each of London’s several dozen historic playhouses.

Some theatres have received lifeline handouts from the Arts Council, a few have understanding benefactors, but none of them is making any money.

The Society of London Theatre estimates 70 per cent will run out of cash by the end of the year.

Resiliently and resourcefully, the community has moved online during lockdown.

Some good new work has been produced, while the number of people who have watched past productions on the National Theatre’s At Home service would fill its three auditoria for 11 years.

Everyone is hungry to restart live stagings.

But it will be hard.

An industry largely staffed by freelancers can’t snap instantly back to business.

Even long-running shows will have to be re-rehearsed or recast, staff re-recruited.

Audience tastes, spending priorities, and confidence will have changed.

Theatre may be creatively reborn in ways we can’t yet imagine.

But it needs government support.

It needs cash, right now, and an extension of the furlough scheme, to stop it from disappearing before the new Cultural Renewal Taskforce has finished talking.

And not just that, but creative thinking and a firm acknowledgement from the highest offices that theatre matters.

Boris Johnson reveres William Shakespeare as much as he does Winston Churchill.

During Glenda Jackson’s King Lear at the Old Vic in 2016 he quoted large chunks of the play under his breath.

He might also like to echo Churchill’s view of the cultural sector: “The arts are essential to any complete national life.

"The state owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them.