Friday, October 18

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Theatres need government support to survive
Blogs

Theatres need government support to survive

The news that Nuffield Southampton Theatres has gone into administration could be the harbinger of many more to come as venues and companies grimly hang on as the lockdown decimates their income. After 50 years Nuffield are the second venue to go under after Halifax’s Square Chapel, who shut their doors just as the full scale of the pandemic was becoming clear forcing theatres to close their doors to keep punters and creatives alike safe. Like most theatres Nuffield was faced with the double whammy of having no customers as well having to refund tickets with no significant income to replace it. But the virus closedown has only revealed the struggle our big and small theatres have been having before COVID-19 to keep going, especially if they’re putting on new or challenging work. E...
Lockdown Interviews – Peter Egan
Interviews

Lockdown Interviews – Peter Egan

Peter Egan has been appearing on stage and screen for over 50 years. He is probably most well-known for his roles as Paul in the television sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles with Richard Briers and as Hugh “Shrimpie” MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire in Downton Abbey. Despite being known for his numerous roles in TV and film he is an award winning stage actor and has acted with both the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and The National. I started by asking what inspired him to become an actor. “I left school at 15 with no qualifications. My prospects were pretty dismal. I did a series of jobs all of which I hated. “When I was 16, I stumbled into acting by joining an amateur group in Ladbroke Grove, West London. “I became fascinated by the process of acting by watching this group ...