How Can I Support the Arts Whilst Theatres Are Closed?
With theatres and many other artistic venues such as live music venues etc being closed I wanted to use my platform to put together a list as to how we can continue to support the arts in these times.
1) Sign a petition.
The biggest petition that I am aware of is the one that asks the Government to offer more support to the arts (particularly theatre and music) amid Covid-19. The blurb goes onto say:
As we pass the COVID-19 Peak, the Government should: State where the Theatres and Arts fit in the Coronavrius recovery Roadmap, Create a tailor made financial support mechanism for the Arts sector & Clarify how Social Distancing will affect arts spaces like Theatres and Concert Venues.
The petition was up to just over 142,000 signatures at the time of writing so it will be discussed by Parliament but the more names the better. If saving the arts isn’t reason enough there are quite a few artists on twitter offering to send you twitter voice notes if you send them a screen shot once you have signed it.
You can find the petition here.
2) Write to your MP
The more pressure we can put on our MP’s the better. If you are not sure who your MP is you can use this website to find out and also send a direct message to them. Do share their response on Twitter and Facebook in order to help keep the issue in the public eye.
3) Support one of the Many Theatre Charities.
I appreciate that not everyone can afford to donate to charity at the moment but if you can please consider donating. Can I also recommend ‘The Show Must Go On T-Shirt’ where all the profits are donated to Acting For Others, Fleabag for Charity and the NHS all through the Theatre support fund.
Please also remember that many of us have been watching a lot of free content recently. Please do donate to some of the organisations that have been providing this content. (A shout out to the National Theatre and Barn Theatre for their content)
4) YouTube
This one may sound odd but even if you can’t donate please do watch the content that is being provided via YouTube. The more people that watch the more advertising revenue they will make. Many of you may have seen how much Joe Wicks earnt via PE with Joe (and donated to the NHS) so lets help the arts get a share of this advertising revenue.
5) Buy A Play
There are so many brilliant plays out there and with theatres closed the next best thing we can do is to read the text and allow our imagination to do the rest. If you are a group of friends that love theatre why not start a play book club to all discuss it or if you are already in a book club why not suggest a play as the next read.
6) Buy A Voucher or Gift Membership
Whilst theatres are still closed this won’t remain the status quo forever so if you have birthdays approaching for a fellow theatre lover why not get them a voucher or even a gift membership for some venues. The National Theatre scheme can be found here.
7) Get on Cameo
The cameo app lets the theatre fans pay their favourite performer a set fee for a personalised message, song and much more. You can get them to record a happy birthday message for a loved one and you get the warm feeling the your money is helping pay an artists rent.
You will find Jordan Fox, John Borrowman, Nikki Blonsky, Jenn Colella, John Owen-Jones, Alistair Brammer, Alice Fearn, Kerry Ellis, Marisha Wallace, Jamie Muscato, Scott Paige, Rob Houchen, Joel Montague, Luke Bayer, Mariam Teak-Lee, Layton Williams, Matthew Rowland, Bradley Jaden, Sophie Isaacs, Anthony Rapp (money going to the Rent foundation) and so many more. The average price is around £15 – £25.
8) Finally…. Share the love on socials
This may seem like a minor point but if we all support our favourite theatres, performers, directors, choreographers etc on social media by liking their pages and sharing their posts this is a brilliant free way of helping to increase their audience and grow their voice.
In Summary
These are just suggestions and if you know of other ideas then please do let me know and I can add to this list.
If you liked this article you might also like my post on racism in amateur theatre, stagey fun you can have from home and how to watch theatre from your own home.