SCARY stuff. And we’re not talking about the Addams Family theatre show just yet. It’s the precarious world of theatre, the doors of Scottish theatres still closed because of government restrictions of audience numbers. And as sure as Uncle Fester wears black nail varnish, many theatre producers are close to going to the wall.
Theatre in England has also taken a battering. Pride and Prejudice (Sort of), the acclaimed Scottish production born at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow which has been playing in London’s West End, has been cancelled. Despite fantastic initial reviews, audiences failed to appear, with producer David Pugh blaming restrictive Covid Plan B measures. “It’s a bloodbath and it’s chaotic,” says producer Sonia Friedman of the overall picture.
The likes of Phantom and Mary Poppins continue to run in London but cut from eight to six shows a week. The fantastically successful The Play That Goes Wrong has been closed.
But it’s been a real horror show for theatre producers in Scotland who have been selling tickets – only to be told the doors can’t open to more than 200 people. There is more chance of Morticia Addams raising a cheery smile than numbers-restricted theatre being viable.
Last week, the King’s Theatre in Glasgow had to pull the world-acclaimed musical The Book of Mormon, which now leaves the theatre group praying for the audiences to return. Fat Friends the Musical has been postponed. What theatre bosses also find shattering is the judgement that football and rugby stadia will be open from Monday, while theatres are yet to be given a definite time for reopening. It’s seen as proportionate as Lurch’s forehead.
As a result, audiences are reluctant to book tickets, leaving their decision to the last moment, which denies producers the chance to strategise.
However, there is hope – a desperate hope – that theatre will return to normal-sized audiences from January 24. And that the ghoulish, almost undead Addams Family will offer theatre the kiss of life. When it began it’s Broadway run, the show, based on the original cartoon strips, was labelled ‘gruesome’ by the critics. But it was re-shaped, re-written and treated to intravenous injections of humour.
As a result, it’s a massive hit, a fun show which looks at life through the bloodshot eyes of the ultimate dysfunctional family.
The plotline, which sees Wednesday Addams now grown up with a boyfriend from a ‘normal’ family, has a powerful resonating undercurrent of tolerance and acceptance of those who are a little . . . different.
What we can also look forward to, hopefully, is the chance to see touring theatre re-emerge from the Omicron-created crypt. Pride and Prejudice (Sort Of), for example, will tour Scotland in the autumn. Meantime, we can only hope that next week sees a government announcement that the nation’s curtains can go up, that the white-faced, black eyelinered Addams Family can bring a colour to theatre fans’ lives.
The Addams Family, the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, January 25 – 29.
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