November 2021
30 November - National Theatre introduces mandatory face masks
30 November - ENO makes face coverings compulsory at London Coliseum
29 November - Royal Shakespeare Company makes masks mandatory at theatres
29 November - Mask rules 'ignored' at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre, claims medic
29 November - Pantomime season: ‘People always say panto is in decline – but even Covid-19 couldn’t kill it off’
28 November - 'There's something special about panto in Scotland'
26 November - Our city’s soul-nourishing theatre is finally back, so why are the stalls only half full?
26 November - Andrew Lloyd Webber tells young actors they work in the service industry: ‘Nobody has a right to be on stage’
25 November - Behind us? How panto rebounded from 2020’s winter of no content
25 November - Boris Johnson ‘spotted without mask in theatre’
25 November - Pantomime ticket sales drop a third on pre-pandemic levels
25 November - Fears over Christmas panto bookings as theatre ticket sales play catch-up
25 November - The problem with masks in theatres
24 November - Kully Thiarai: The arts sector has failed to build back better
24 November - Lloyd Webber: Cinderella cast must not forget it works in the service industry
23 November - See-nothing, say-nothing Nadine Dorries tests her powers of self-censorship
23 November - Covid passports for Scotland not rolled out to theatres
23 November - One in three musicians earning nothing after the pandemic, charity says
22 November - Broadway’s Return Is Triumphant, But Uncertainty Looms: “Humans Have to Be as Important as the Show”
22 November - Panto-goers showing reluctance to book for Christmas shows – survey
22 November - West End bouncing back but 'couldn't survive another lockdown' says Lloyd Webber
22 November - The best theatre can do for its workers costs nothing: treat them as human beings
20 November - It’s not endgame for Irish theatre, but it is a struggle
19 November - 'We are breaking through barriers': Calls to expand the use of subtitles in theatres and on television
19 November - 2,000 Irish artists will get state salaries: we should do the same here
19 November - Nadine Dorries: ‘Commercial producers did not need CRF funding’
19 November - New organisation launched to tackle sexual harassment in live comedy
19 November - 'Inconsistent' Covid safety policy for backstage workers exposed in new survey
19 November - Andrew Lloyd Webber: Vaccine passports in theatres an ‘obvious’ way to avoid new lockdown
19 November - Nadine Dorries: Culture secretary says social media has been hijacked
19 November - Culture Recovery Fund: Full list of performing arts companies given CRF3 grants
19 November - 925 cultural organisations supported by £107 million in latest recovery fund
18 November - Arts Council England announces new round of Cultural Recovery Fund recipients
18 November - Northern Ireland to introduce Covid passes at entertainment venues
17 November -Museum Freelance wraps up after six successful years
17 November -More than half the public want improved safety measures in theatres - survey
17 November - Covid-19’s impact on arts, culture and heritage sector revealed by landmark report
17 November - Spain scraps visa requirement for UK touring musicians
The UK’s music industry has welcomed the decision by the Spanish government to scrap post-Brexit visa requirements for UK artists on short-term tours, but warned significant issues still remain that will make many tours “impossible”.
17 November - Swansea cinema refuses to ask customers for pass
A cinema manager has refused to obey the Covid pass law, claiming it is an “infringement of our human rights”.
Since Monday, people must show an NHS Covid pass in Wales to legally enter cinemas, theatres and concert halls.
16 November - You’d think theatre's loyal show makers would be rewarded, right? Wrong – so wrong
We are living through the Great Resignation. Theatre professionals who managed to see their families, sleep and get some semblance of a life during the pandemic are quitting or simply not returning to the industry post-pandemic.
16 November - Scottish councils ban school panto trips, costing venues thousands
Venues have branded the decision as “devastating”, with Inverness’ Eden Court citing school-booking losses of £30,000 and the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock having to cut its pantomime run by two weeks
15 November - Glyndebourne hopes beachcombing can turn tide in fight to green theatres
Formal attire may be encouraged for audiences at Glyndebourne but the sets are going to be flotsam and jetsam.
The opera house has been beachcombing to build a stage for a forthcoming production as it enters the age of the Theatre Green Book.
15 November - Welsh theatres criticise 'chaotic' Covid pass rules
Welsh theatre leaders have criticised the “chaotic” introduction of mandatory Covid passes for audiences.
Many are arguing the measure is being brought in without enough warning and that the sector is being unfairly treated.
15 November - Every West End theatre has now reopened since being closed by Covid
In mid-March 2020, every West End theatre in the UK was forced to close its doors. No one would have predicted that it would take until 15 November 2021 for all of them to return to action once again.
With the first preview of Cabaret this evening, every single one of the 37 West End theatres has officially recommenced live shows – following Moulin Rouge! over the weekend. That makes it 609 days since this was last possible.
15 November - Vaccine certificates now needed to visit theatres, cinemas and concert halls in Wales
People in Wales will now have to prove they are fully vaccinated or have had a negative lateral flow test to visit theatres, cinemas and concert halls after the existing NHS COVID Pass scheme was widened.
15 November - RSC boss: We’re a long way off normality – theatre is not out of the woods
Royal Shakespeare Company executive director Catherine Mallyon has revealed it will take a “good few years” for the company to get all of its theatre spaces up and running, warning the sector as a whole is “not out of the woods yet”.
15 November - Theatre worries older fans lack tech for passes
A theatre director has expressed his worries older customers won’t be able to get their Covid vaccine passes by Monday.
15 November - Back to business as usual? Better for the West End to embrace a new normal
After I had my first child, I often found myself saying I just needed a little time before “things got back to normal”. What I didn’t appreciate was that this was the new normal. There was no going back to my previous life.
13 November - Panto’s back, oh yes it is: UK theatres hope for revival after Covid fallout
There were cheers and boos, oohs and aahs in the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury this week at the first read-through of this year’s pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk.
13 November - How the UK became the sick man of European tourism
It’s a country that has just endured national fuel shortages, isolated food shortages, and its government voted this fall to dump untreated sewage onto its famous coastlines. Oh — and it has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world.
12 November - Covid safety measures key to winning back cautious audiences – survey
Covid-19 safety concerns are preventing a significant proportion of previously frequent arts attenders from returning to cultural venues, newly released research has suggested.
11 November - Alistair Spalding: Post-Brexit touring is a nightmare
Post-Brexit touring in Europe has been described as a “nightmare” by Sadler’s Wells artistic director Alistair Spalding, who fears other companies will be put off taking work internationally by the extra paperwork and costs.
11 November - Theatre Green Book can be pandemic’s silver lining
Theatre has found few silver linings in the pandemic. The adoption of digital as a means to improve access, maybe. Theatres putting greater emphasis on outreach work while their main stages were closed, perhaps. The role it played to bring long-standing and widespread inequalities to the fore, certainly – although to what end we do not yet know.
11 November - Climate Crisis Special
Our climate crisis special focuses on way theatremakers are campaigning and producing work that could help save the world
11 November - Theatre has suffered financially from the pandemic, but we must not forget the human consequences
As theatres reopen, people keep telling me that returning to work must be like riding a horse – you never forget how to do it. These observations often come from people who have never actually ridden a horse, or, for that matter, worked in the arts industry.
09 November - Covid pass extended to cinemas and theatres in Wales
People going to cinemas and theatres in Wales will be required to show a Covid pass after the Welsh government won a vote in the Senedd.
Currently, visitors to nightclubs and large events have to show they are fully vaccinated, have tested negative for Covid or have recently had the virus to enter.
09 November - Lyric Hammersmith Theatre launches ‘groundbreaking’ free actor training course
A free two-year acting programme for young people from under-represented groups is being launched by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, which aims to offer a “genuine alternative pathway into theatre”.
08 November - No 10 is marching through cultural institutions – and making a battleground of the arts
By interfering in appointments, the government is trying to shape museums and trusts in its own image
08 November - There’s so much shows can do to go green without it costing the earth
Theatre has suddenly woken up to the severity of the climate and ecological crisis and artistic responses to it are mushrooming. I have two different climate crisis musicals currently in development, but even where it’s not explicitly the theme, I still try to Trojan Horse climate ideas – so-called ‘planet placement’ – into everything I write.
05 November - Rankin reveals theatre’s backstage magicians: ‘Audiences would be shocked!’
The photographer has brought directors, door keepers and technicians out of the shadows for a special exhibition celebrating the survival of the West End
05 November - Climate crisis | How theatremakers are responding to COP26
With the eyes of the world on Glasgow for the COP26 summit, David Pollock finds local creatives are doing their part by producing works that highlight the climate crisis as well as helping to amplify the competing voices trying to be heard
05 November - Theatre’s hiring crisis
As theatres fight to find and retain backstage workers, Alice Saville talks to people on the frontline of theatre’s hiring crisis.
04 November - Campaign to address 'stagnated' wages for panto stage managers
Stage managers have called out “stagnated” wages and deteriorating working conditions in pantomime, with Equity planning a campaign in 2022 to push producers to commit to better pay.
04 November - Creating safe and inclusive workspaces in theatre
As a new code of conduct is launched for the theatre industry, Sebastian Cheswright Cater makes the case for the journey the sector needs to go on to make meaningful change.
04 November - Making UK theatres sustainable will cost £1bn, research suggests
More than £1 billion is needed to make the UK’s theatre buildings fully sustainable research has suggested. The Theatres Trust’s survey said an “urgent challenge” is facing the sector if it is to transform in response to the climate emergency.
03 November - LIPA cuts audition fees in drive to boost accessibility
First-round auditions at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts are to be made free, as part of an effort to increase access and diversity at the school.
Previously, applicants for the acting course have been charged £40 for the drama school’s two-stage process.
03 November - Back to life: Portraits charting Theatreland’s post-Covid recovery
As the theatre industry emerges from the pandemic, photographer Rankin is celebrating the West End and its workforce in a new exhibition. Performance, backed by the Society of London Theatre and the Mayor of London’s Let’s Do London campaign, includes 150 portraits of people working the industry, from performers and producers to technicians and stage doorkeepers
02 November - The Budget shows the government is actively taking a stance against the arts
Rishi Sunak’s Budget last week confirmed all the fears I’ve harboured since the last cabinet reshuffle – that this government is actively taking a stance against the arts.
02 November - ‘We’re up for the challenge’ – How Welsh theatres are reopening
Theatres in Wales were only allowed to open at full-capacity on August 31. Two months later, industry leaders from across the country tell Nicholas Davieshow they are balancing the risks of new work and gauging audience confidence
01 November - 10 Principles for Safe and Inclusive Workspaces
Today SOLT and UK Theatre have released an updated version of their 10 Principles for creating safe and inclusive working spaces in the theatre industry, to help tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination.