UK theaters cautious to Brexit impact, says industry chief

The unknown effect of Brexit is damaging the theater and performing arts Industry of Britain at the moment, said a senior representative for the British theaters.

In a recent press briefing to foreign media, Julian Bird, Chief Executive of the Society of London Theater (SOLT) and UK Theater, said people in UK's theater Industry "are very cautious, as in every Industry here", because of the unknown effect of the Brexit.

UNDER Brexit SHADOW

SOLT and UK Theater are UK's leading theater and performing arts membership organizations. According to their latest data, British theaters have enjoyed its golden period in recent years. In 2018 alone, a total of 62,945 performances in London's West End and across Britain have drawn a combined audience of over 34 million, generating ticket revenue of nearly 1.28 billion pounds (1. 69 billion U.S. dollars) .

But the booming Industry now is under the shadow of uncertainty of Brexit.

"In case of unknown situation, the cost of a show may increase because you have actors and working staff coming from other European countries," said Bird, who is also a producer.

An estimated 40,000 jobs depend on theaters in London's West End, many of which are taken by people from European countries.

"If I plan for the autumn, what is going to entail for me as a producer or a manager of that production is just unknown. What are going to be the visa requirements and what is the cost of those going to be? If you've got a huge company going, you have to have visa requirements for multiple countries that could be very expensive and could jeopardize what we are doing in the first place," Bird added.

The Industry may also need to face the possible shrink of arts founding sources from Europe, as well as the challenge for co-productions that require efforts across multiple countries.

"Some of those projects may never get off the ground in the first place," Bird warned, "There is definitely some trepidation."

Besides, roughly one third of London West End's audience are overseas visitors and nearly 25 percent of holiday visitors staying in London will go to the theater. It is natural for the British theaters to worry about if they can keep visitors coming in a changing political climate.

NO ANSWER SO FAR

Bird became the chief of SOLT and UK Theater nine years ago. He is also the executive producer for the Olivier Awards and UK Theater Awards.

Representing the theater society, he is in conversation with the British government.

"We are in conversation all the time," Bird said, "but the negotiations are so complex, there are no special arrangements for any particular Industry at the moment."

He took the issue about shipping as an example.

"You have probably heard the government talking about the distinction between goods and services. The people's performance is definitely a service. But if you think about a theater production, where does that fall? If I am taking an entire production to perform somewhere, is that a service? Or then if I'm taking physical sets and costumes, are they treated as goods or actually is the whole thing goods?" he asked.

He said this kind of negotiations have last for months, and "the answer is there are no answers at the moment".

Therefore, Bird called for a better mechanism for theater exchange and talents swap between Britain and Europe.

The exchange scheme between Britain and America has developed well over years, which allows British actors go and work in theaters in America and vise versa.

"There is the potential for a similar thing with Europe in the future," Bird said. "I prefer to stay in Europe, I'm not a leaver. But assuming we do leave, I think it will take a long time before that all starts to settle down and we all know where we are."