Theatres Call For Subsidies As Covid Bites

The theatre arts sector said on Saturday that the government’s decision to close entertainment venues, without giving it any financial assistance, has led to the cancellation of over a hundred shows.

The Hong Kong Theatre Arts Practitioners Union is now calling for government subsidies, compensation for losses incurred by the cancellations, and the disclosure of government criteria for the re-opening venues, once the Covid outbreak has eased. It said production groups now faced losses of over HK$6 million.

A spokesman for the union, Ryan Lo, says suggestions by officials that live shows be moved online is impractical.

“We can feel other audience; we can see the actors they are with us in the same space. We can feel the emotion of everyone inside the theatre for a live theatre performance,” he said at a press conference.

“But if we try to make it an online broadcast, then we are going to lose a lot of these elements. Furthermore, it is going to create a huge cost, for us to record everything, to hire cameramen to record and to help us on technical issues.".

Edmond Tong, executive director of the Windmill Grass Theatre Company, said they had earlier been told that their shows could continue as long as the actors tested negative for Covid-19, but were then told the policy had been changed. As a result, he estimated that show cancellations would lead to a loss of around HK$2 million.

“Before the shows were cancelled, we were instructed that as long as actors test negative, the shows could go on. And they did it accordingly,” he said.

“But within one week, the government abruptly stopped the performances, and at the same time, the catering industry could still run on limited capacity."

Joey Leung, a colleague of Tong, said as far as he understood, at least one-third of theatre shows were cancelled due to the anti-epidemic measures, and most theatre companies could no longer afford to pay freelance actors in full.