ONLY FOOLS CAST TAKE SILENT STAND TO SAVE THEATRES
4 September 2020
WHY DON’T EVEN FOOLS AND HORSES WORK?!
On Thursday 3 September at 11.00am, 30 members of the cast and crew of Only Fools and Horses The Musical joined together outside the Theatre Royal Haymarket to make a 15 minute socially-distanced silent stand.
This was to show solidarity with those in the UK theatre industry who have lost their jobs and received no government support, to highlight the lack of government guidance for the reopening of theatres, and to implore the Government to provide the industry with a date when theatres can reopen without social distancing.
Paul Whitehouse, co-writer and star of Only Fools and Horses The Musical, participated in the silent stand, said: “This stand is to highlight the plight of everyone who works in the theatre industry: the front of house staff, box office, bar staff, cleaners, ushers, maintenance workers as well as the stage crew and cast, producers, writers, set designers, directors, lighting and sound designers, art departments, production teams, make-up and wigs, costume, carpenters, marketing, musicians and musical directors. Not to mention all the small businesses that survive and thrive as a result of theatre audiences...the restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cabbies and many others. If it’s ok to go to the cinema, it must be ok to go to a show. If it’s ok to go to a crowded airport and sit on a plane for hours, it must be ok to go to a show. You can ventilate a theatre...you can’t open a window on a plane.
We need restrictions lifted, or a cohesive date so we can plan and work towards reigniting an entire industry.”
Coverage of our stand:
