Andrew Lloyd Webber is right – if ‘pingdemic’ restrictions don’t stop, the arts won’t put up with it

It’s one thing for a school class bubble to be sent home for 10 days when one child gets Covid, writes Charlotte Cripps, but for the theatre and live music scene, it’s devastating

The opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cinderella’ has been delayed because of Covid (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella)

I was meant to take one of my daughters to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella.

It’s a far cry from the Disney version; Carrie Hope Fletcher’s Cinderella is a goth in Dr Martens and sings “Bad Cinderella”. But I’ve been dying to take her post lockdown to her first-ever theatre show. No such luck.

It was cancelled after a single cast member in a cameo role tested positive for Covid.

The West End theatre impresario, Lloyd Webber, said: “We cannot function with this current system.” He added: “We can’t isolate every time somebody may or may not have it. It just simply doesn’t work.” In a statement, he implored the government to stop using “the blunt instrument” of its self-isolation rules to create “impossible conditions”.

Cinderella is set to reopen next month, with a new premiere date of 25 August. Previews had begun on 25 June. But when will all this end?

It’s one thing for a school class bubble to be sent home for 10 days when one child gets Covid, causing chaos for working parents. But for the theatre and live music scene, it’s devastating.

After the emotional return of Latitude last weekend, it’s not all plain sailing. UK music festivals are threatened with cancellations due to “pingdemic” staff shortages.

Lloyd Webber, who accused the government of making the theatre industry a “sacrificial lamb”, is not alone.

Roll on 16 August. Hopefully, the government will ease restrictions; double jabbed individuals and under-18s will no longer need to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of someone with Covid. But one thing is clear: if pingdemic restrictions don’t stop, the arts won’t put up with it.

Yours,

Charlotte Cripps

Culture writer

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