Click above to watch this weeks video... Enough to Go Around? While the Government’s announcement of a financial rescue package of £1.57billion for the ‘arts’ is a welcomed move, we can’t help but wonder just how quickly the funds will be delivered and, probably even more essentially, how much of it will get to theatres. Then, when we extend this question to amateur and non-professional theatres in particular, we suspect the answer won’t be much at all. I’m not saying it’s not a large sum of money; it’s huge. But let’s not forget the generous package is to be distributed among a multitude of arts, culture and heritage organisations in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; that means museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, historic palaces, heritage sites and music venues. So, how far will £1.5 billion really go? The new announcement has come quite late in the day as well, hasn’t it? Theatres have been crying out for life-saving support for weeks and weeks, so it’s almost as if the whole exercise might have been timed to make Rishi Sunak & Oliver Dowden look like knights in shining armour. Plus, now, we’ve just heard yesterday that outdoor performances can now also legally go ahead from this Sunday, 11th July – not that the required social distancing will really make that a financially viable option. I interviewed musical theatre star, Ruthie Henshall, a couple of days ago, and she was more concerned with the desperate state of her industry than she was promoting her rescheduled UK concert dates from last April to March next year – all credit to her. Ruthie told me that she thinks many theatres will probably “end up with about 5p each” of the newly announced rescue package. Not surprisingly, Boris Johnson, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak are singing the praises of the new funding, but there is a lot more caution from the theatre industry itself. Last week we quoted Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan. This week, he has said of the new announcement: “We hope that this package can be distributed swiftly in order to avoid further redundancies and closures and to bring many of the UK’s theatres back from the brink,” adding “We will need to know more detail of how this money will be allocated across the different areas to fully assess its benefit – we would hope that a significant proportion will be reserved for the performing arts. Theatres have been amongst the hardest hit industries by the pandemic and are still at risk as they are unable to operate viably while social distancing is in place.” Jon Morgan also comments that: “We also hope that funding will reach beyond London and support the UK’s many brilliant local theatres that serve their communities so well … The majority of this money will be needed to cover ongoing staffing and overhead costs as the furlough scheme tapers from August and ultimately ends in October. While this is an extraordinary sum of money whether it will be sufficient to keep the nation’s theatres alive will depend on when they will be able to reopen fully.” There are also countless amateur and non-professional theatre societies, companies and charities that would desperately like to see some of this Government money but, with “decisions on awards made working alongside expert independent figures from the sector including the Arts Council England and other specialist bodies such as Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute,” we will be very interested to know if any amateur societies out there are waiting for a windfall anytime soon. Needless to say Sardines isn’t expecting to see any of the Government’s £1.57 billion. Looking at last week’s survey questions, it doesn’t look like many of you are all that positive about reopening before 2021 anyway – and this whole recovery is going to be based on confidence: NOTE: Over 80% answered a flat NO. NOTE: Over 85% answered NO or NOT YET NOTE: Two thirds answered NO or I DOUBT IT NOTE: Half of respondents answered NO NOTE: Perhaps the most telling question of all was answered by almost 90% with YES or VERY LIKELY One could get quite depressed by these answers; so roll on finding a vaccine we say! Anyway, don’t forget that one lucky respondent has won a box of 63 CDs, containing many of the all-time classic musicals to ever grace the stage including West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, Oliver!, The King and I and The Phantom of the Opera. And the winner of the musicals CDs is: ‘JOHN ANTHONY from NEWARK’. Congratulations, John! We’ll be contacting you immediately to arrange your prize. Meanwhile, as a result of everything that’s been going on, plus the reactions we’ve been able to gauge from the amateur sector – which we thank you all for very much – it looks like we won’t be able to publish another printed edition of Sardines until 1st December. That means we’ll be forced to go ‘dark’ for a full six months of 2020. That said, we’re heading full steam now to get the new website up and running as soon as possible. This will enable us to publish lots of online content. When this happens, current subscribers will all be given full automatic online access, not only to every past issue we’ve ever produced, but also exclusive magazine features such as our interview this week with the lovely Ruthie Henshall. If you can support us and subscribe, please follow the link below. S.O.S. (Save Our Shoals!) Subscribe to Sardines Here THE PERFORMING ARTS A MESSAGE OF HOPE? By Graham Whalan The future of the performing arts seems bleak indeed. Some have asked whether they even have a future, referring to the worldwide impact of the coronavirus as an ‘Extinction Level Event’. Whilst at the time of writing the lockdown measures have begun to ease, live performance in theatres remains banned. It is widely agreed that the 5-step ‘roadmap’ of Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden for their return is of no help at all and, although the more recent announcement of a £1.57bn rescue package offers more hope, many uncertainties remain, with some even damning it as ‘too little, too late.’ I have no solutions, no great insights, but just a few thoughts. First let’s consider the value of music and song. At the most basic level they are a source of rich entertainment, a diversion and a temporary escape from life’s daily routine, a morale-booster. Back in 1939, when Britain declared war on Germany, in fear of the impact of bombing raids, the Government initially ordered that all theatres be shut down for the duration. It was soon realised that the impact of music, song, and dance on the nation’s morale was such that it was far better for them to remain open, and the ruling was duly relaxed. Although at the present time live performance remains banned, it is no surprise therefore that, through social media, many individuals have offered musical performances to keep spirits up. So we have had new songs offered up by aspiring singer- songwriters, evening concerts from established performers streamed live (both amateur and professional), and, most notably, in a recent TV series The Choir: Singing for Britain, choir- supremo Gareth Malone made highly creative use of modern technology and brought people together in song. The resulting ‘virtual choir’ was a major success, relieving loneliness, boredom, and the crippling sense of isolation for many. ‘There is a need in people to make music,’ he observed. Talking of TV, I recently happened to be watching an episode of the mock-umentary comedy series The Office in which David Brent points out that life is basically a series of peaks and troughs. He then offers the optimistic thought that, ‘If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain,’ before going on to ask, ‘Do you know which ‘philosopher’ said that? ….. Dolly Parton.’ Sardonic it may be, but it set me thinking about the many other song-writer ‘philosophers’ whose lyrics, within the medium of musical theatre, have been inspirational, encouraging, and above-all optimistic. Musical theatre is in fact awash with them. The spirit of optimism, the strength of the human spirit against adversity, and hope for a better world are constant themes. Going back to Edwardian times, the standard plotline in Georges Edwardes’ Gaiety Girl musicals was that of the poor girl of humble origins triumphing over adversity. Later on, in the early 1920s, the character Blair Farquar in the Jerome Kern musical Sally exhorts the heroine to ‘Look for the Silver Lining’, whilst a few years later the character Jill Kemp, in Mr Cinders, advises that, ‘Even when the darkest clouds are in the sky, You mustn’t sigh and you mustn’t cry, Spread a little happiness as you go by.’ In more recent times, there is then of course the ultimate note of optimism in Annie who reminds us about the constant promise of Tomorrow – it’s ‘always a day away’ she says, when ‘bet your bottom dollar, there’ll be sun.’ The list goes on. ‘Always look on the bright side of life’ sings Patsy, King Arthur’s trusty servant in Spamalot; when times get tough, hang on to your dreams advises Bloody Mary in South Pacific; ‘Climb every mountain’ says Maria in The Sound of Music; and dare to dream ‘The Impossible Dream’ says Don Quixote in The Man from La Mancha.