“生存还是毁灭”：英国剧院业面临复苏困境

“生存还是毁灭？这是个问题。”

英国文豪莎士比亚经典戏剧《哈姆雷特》中的这句台词，如今成了英国剧院业疫情之下面临的真实困境。

"To be, or not to be?" – the famous line in Shakespeare's classic play "Hamlet" has become a real dilemma faced by the British theater industry. As the entertainment industry adopted the government's guidance aimed at trying to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, British cinema chains, theaters and art venues have closed their doors since March.  

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The pandemic prompts major British theaters to close doors 

Queen's Theater in London. /VCG

自3月下旬英国为遏制新冠疫情实施全国性“封锁”措施以来，英国所有剧院已关门谢客百余天。

昔日灯火辉煌的舞台如今大幕低垂，没有演出，没有收入。一些独立运营、缺少资助的剧院在苦熬数月后未能幸存，彻底倒闭。

Some of London's most popular performance spaces, including the O2 arena, the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare's Globe and National theaters as well as the nearly 150-year old Royal Albert Hall brought their curtains down – theaters saw their income vanish overnight when they locked down.

“我们不是收入低的行业，我们是没有收入的行业”，伦敦剧院协会和英国剧院首席执行官朱利安·伯德对《金融时报》记者说。

他预计，到今年年底，将有约70%的剧院倒闭，一些闻名世界的大剧院恐也难幸免于难。

"We're not a sector with lower income, we're a sector with no income," Julian Bird, chief executive of Society of London Theater (SOLT) and UK Theater told the Financial Times. Bird also added that by the end of the year, up to 70 percent of the theaters could go bankrupt, including larger venues.

据报道，关门期间，英国国家剧院每月损失高达500万英镑。

而这只是疫情阴霾下，英国剧院业的一个缩影。

据伯德估计，截至目前，疫情给全英各大剧院公司造成的损失已超过3亿英镑。

Meanwhile, the flagship National Theater in London also noted that it is losing 5 million British pounds a month and will have depleted its reserves by the end of March of next year. "Theater companies across the land have already lost around 330 million pounds," Bird concluded.

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 Government publishes roadmap for England's theaters 

随着疫情逐渐得到控制，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊此前宣布，逐步放宽防疫限制措施：

• 从7月4日起，英格兰的酒吧、餐厅、博物馆和美术馆重新开放；

• 剧院也可以开始营业，但暂时还不能进行现场演出，同时场内必须遵守社交距离等防疫规定。

The gradual easing of coronavirus lockdown measures has offered hopes to business pushed to the edge by the pandemic. A five-stage roadmap was recently published by the UK government, with the aim of getting theaters and music venues back up on their feet following the coronavirus lockdown.

Performing arts institutions have been one of the sectors worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced several weeks ago that concert halls and theaters could open along with pubs and museums, but with no live performances.

尽管这是一个令人欣慰的消息，但对于在生存线边缘挣扎已久的各大剧院来说，他们又陷入了“开还是不开”的两难抉择。

位于伦敦泰晤士河南岸的莎士比亚环球剧院此前宣布，放弃现阶段开放。因为在遵守社交距离规定的前提下重开，对这家储备金极为有限的剧院而言“经济上不可行”。

其他一些老式剧院也面临相似困境：它们中的绝大多数建筑陈旧、入口狭窄、座位拥挤，在这些剧院里保持人际一米间距几乎不可能。

“即便能保证（社交距离），又有多少观众愿意在当前环境下重返剧院看戏？”一些剧院工作者表示前景并不乐观。

7月初，英国政府宣布将拨款15.7亿英镑，用于救助深陷困境的文化艺术产业。

英国首相约翰逊说——

“为了子孙后代，我们将投入这笔资金用于捍卫文化艺术宝藏。尽管目前没有任何演出机会，但我们将确保英国的艺术团体和剧院可以继续维持运作。”

不过，这笔资金如何分配，能起多大作用，还未可知。

He also announced the government would inject 1.57 billion pounds into the country's arts and heritage industries, offering help to the sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Odeon cinema in the UK. /Reuters

据英国政府官方数据，2018年文化创意产业给英国带来超200万个就业岗位，为英国经济创造了约1117亿英镑的收入。

此次约翰逊承诺向文艺界“输血”15.7亿英镑，被很多业界从业人员看作是踏出了“漫长复苏道路的第一步”。

然而，对于已遭受了数月经济打击的英国剧院业而言，他们的生存仍岌岌可危。

这一步能否走好，能走多远，还有待时间考证。

"For the sake of our 111.7-billion-pound creative industries, it is vital that government puts in place support to ensure that our world-leading creative sector is able to survive COVID-19," Federation of Creative Industries' CEO Caroline Norbury noted.

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