Many people reading this column may not have been expecting to see recent news coverage of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of COVID-19.
For many reasons, the UK government and media have worked extremely hard to banish this traumatic time from the collective memory, and that has largely been reflected in the muted response to what should have been a major anniversary. In particular, given its failures, the previous government had every reason to commit this sad chapter of British life to the forgotten past.
Even so, however much they would like us to move on, it isn’t always that easy. Something like quarter of a million of our country’s citizens died, as did many millions overseas. That included an unquantified number of those with connections to the theatre.
Less dramatically, much of the industry is still suffering from the economic depredations caused by long-term closures, uncertainty and the struggle to get back to a new normal, especially as, for various reasons, many regular theatregoers failed to return.
Further, as Protect the Heart of the Arts has bravely highlighted, long COVID continues to affect what is now estimated to be 6% of the many millions of people who contracted this form of coronavirus. It seems reasonable to assume that this percentage applies across the arts, meaning that one in 16 theatre folk are struggling to follow their passion, ply their trade or have given up as a direct consequence.
This writer is one of those. His last visit to a theatre took place five years ago yesterday. When it comes to fond memories, that final day's outing could be described as going out on a high, since that visit was to enjoy a revival of Robert Lepage’s seven-hour epic, Seven Streams of the River Ota at the National Theatre.
10 days later, the weird virus about which we had all been hearing so much struck, not so much close to home as at home. By then, theatres were closed and the country was (belatedly) about to follow suit. At the time, this critic’s illness didn’t seem particularly serious, although the lockdown certainly was. Bored and looking for a distraction, in a moment of inspiration, the idea of writing a few weekly columns while theatres remained closed sprang up.
The initial expectation was that we would be back to normal within a couple of months, if not sooner. Five years later, rather than the anticipated 5 or in extremis 10 columns, the total number is somewhere in the region of 250.
A writer has to hope that at least some output will have pleased at least a few readers but who knows? For better or worse (almost certainly better), our editor has chosen to avoid the pitfalls of allowing readers to post comments beneath articles and long may that continue.
Sadly, the chance of a return to theatre while suffering from such an unpredictable but generally manageable illness is becoming increasingly unlikely. Therefore, these columns are likely to continue until the editor, the writer or possibly public demand suggest otherwise.