Theatre owners rage against West End ‘chaos’

Theatre owners have criticised the government’s attitude to the West End. In a letter to the prime minister, theatre owner Cameron Mackintosh said the “scenes of devastation” seen during Sunday’s football match and the absence of police protection for West End properties meant the area was “subjected to chaos”. He added that it was a “grim metaphor” for the government’s treatment of commercial theatre during the pandemic. Theatre operators had been “left to fend for ourselves: strongly encouraged to open and then closed down again; largely denied direct financial help; and met with impediment in our urgent plea for help to solve the crippling uncertainty caused by unworkable isolation rules and unobtainable insurance”. Tens of thousands of pounds of damage was caused to the grade II listed Wyndham’s Theatre by football fans on Sunday. Fellow producer Andrew Lloyd Webber added that he industry would not be facing so many “desperate challenges” if the government had shown it “even a hint of the enthusiasm it bestows upon mass sporting events”. The Times (£) To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews