Coronavirus latest: Supreme Court’s Barrett rejects challenge to Indiana University’s vaccination mandate
Online performances and an extension to the UK government’s furlough scheme have propped up a season full of false starts for the Blackpool Grand Theatre but the stress has been hard for its director to bear.
For Ruth Eastwood, running the grandiose venue through the pandemic threw up a series of stop-start challenges as live performances fell off the agenda. The 127-year-old theatre in the northern English seaside town had to close during the first lockdown in March last year and has not hosted a live performance since.
“October and Christmas were the low points,” Eastwood said, and that prompted the theatre to put off reopening until next month.
The recent response, however, from the Grand’s loyal fans has shown a “hunger” to return, she said.
Eastwood, chief executive of the venue for the past eight years, faced tough decisions during the theatre’s closure, including having to redraw plans due to sudden changes to government policy.
The theatre in October was on the verge of reducing the 57 people on its books by three-quarters as the pandemic bit into revenues and the furlough programme was due to end. Then the government extended the job retention scheme. A quick rethink and an about-turn meant 19 more people were kept on than originally expected.
Two months later, the theatre was again poised to reopen with an end-of-year programme, with pantomime at its heart. But a post-Christmas lockdown scuppered plans and the show, which had gone as far as a dress rehearsal, was pulled at the last minute.
The Grand and its actors, however, filmed the performance for people to download at £25 a view and it was able to break even.
“We estimate that 4,700 people saw it,” Eastwood said. “We broke even as it covered the costs of the sets and actors.”
The Grand has survived thanks to almost £1m of emergency Arts Council funding plus £50,000 from an insurance claim, which took about a year to come through. “It’s better than a punch in the nose,” said Eastwood.
She is optimistic for the theatre’s future. It aims to open next month with a programme that includes comedians Jon Richardson, Frank Skinner and Alan Carr. This year’s panto will be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The pandemic-ridden months though have been hard for Eastwood and she will not be involved in the long-term future of the Blackpool Grand. She will step down early next year to pursue a freelance career.
“It’s been really tough,” she said. “But I can leave feeling positive about it.”
This is the latest article in a series for the blog that explores the effects of the pandemic on people and businesses around the world