Scottish Theatre into the gutter?

Theatres are falling thick and fast,

with no funding, more worryingly,

no answers from the government.

It is baffling that pubs,

cinemas,

and restaurants can re-open,

and yet theatres still have no timetable

and no answers.

Theatres don't have drunk people

wandering around,

forgetting about social distancing

once they're a few drinks in.

Nor do they require wait staff

to wander around the theatre during a performance.

In many ways they're perfectly set up

for safe re-opening -

box office have full details of anyone

ywho has bought a ticket,

so track and trace is much easier

than a pub or a restaurant.

True,

they operate on much lower margins than cinemas - but with some funding and some imagination,

this can be worked around.

Outdoor venues,

distance between families,

selling every other seat,

short shows and no intervals -

theatres have the innovation and the ideas,

they are just waiting on the go-ahead.

The lack of answers from the government

is baffling.

When there's a timetable in place for churches, cinemas,

pubs,

and gyms to re-open,

but not a single word on theatres,

the industry can only ask:

is this incompetence?

Or does the government actually want to see

the collapse

of one of the most financially prosperous

and long-standing British traditions into the gutter?