Cameron Mackintosh warns theatres are "unlikely" to reopen until 2021

British theatre impresario Sir Cameron Macintosh has warned that theatres won’t be able to reopen until 2021 as a result of social distancing measures.

Mackintosh, who has produced shows such as Les Miserables, and Hamilton, has said that actors will struggle to immediately reconvene when social distancing measures are eventually relaxed.

“I think from the moment social distancing doesn’t exist any more, it will take us four to five months to actually get the actors back together,” he told Michael Ball on BBC Radio 2.

He added: “For major producers both sides of the Atlantic, the truth is until social distancing doesn’t exist any more, we can’t even plan to reopen.

“We will be back, but we need time to get back. If we don’t hear [about lockdown lifting] in a few weeks, we won’t be able to come back until early next year. I think that’s quite clear.”

His comments come after Arts Council England launched a £160m emergency package to support venues, artists and workers across the culture sector.

A similar situation is faced by music venues across the UK, who remain uncertain about when live gigs will be allowed in the UK again under the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Rebecca Walker, general manager of The Leadmill in Sheffield, recently told NME: “The whole business model of a live music venue and nightclub is to do the complete opposite of social distancing.

“Explaining social distancing to someone who’s had five cans of Red Stripe going for it to their favourite song just won’t be possible – especially after all this time in lockdown.

“Promoters and venues run on quite minimal margins anyway. It’s no surprise that we rely on bar sales to be profitable. Promoters are in it for the love of music, not the love of money – but to have a half-full venue every night is just not financially worth it.”

With the majority of this summer’s shows and festivals have also been cancelled or postponed, it was also warned last week that social restrictions could be kept in place in the UK for the rest of the year. Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government, told the public it was “wholly unrealistic” to expect life to return to normal soon.

Many countries in Europe and Scandinavia have also banned mass gatherings until September, although Sweden had controversially allowed for gigs with up to a capacity of 40 people to take place with appropriate social distancing measures in place.