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Outdoor theatre on cards this summer but Christmas pantos in doubt

<span>Photograph: RMV/Rex/Shutterstock</span>
Photograph: RMV/Rex/Shutterstock

Outdoor theatre performances could be back this summer but it will be “challenging” for pantomimes to return by Christmas, according to the culture secretary, as the government announced a £1.57bn bailout for the UK arts sector.

Amid warnings the theatre sector was on the brink of collapse because of the coronavirus crisis, with venues forced to shut for months throughout the lockdown, the government announced a support package that has been welcomed by the arts industry.

Labour has warned that the funding arrived “already too late”, and the government faces questions about when theatres will be able to reopen, given pubs in England are serving again.

Asked about when people would be able to go to the theatre, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, told LBC on Monday: “I am desperate for these institutions to return as quickly as possible but it has to be done in a safe way, that’s why we’ve said already they can rehearse and they can have performances behind closed doors. I hope that shortly they will be able to have outside performances.”

Pressed on when outdoor theatre performances would be allowed, Dowden said: “I hope by ... mid-July we will be able to make that announcement in respect of outdoor performances and we are working with institutions to understand how they are doing that.”

He added: “The primary criteria will be outdoor and socially distanced.” Dowden described the potential return of theatres without social distancing as “challenging”, highlighting that many performances took place in tightly-packed Victorian buildings. “If we can do it in a safe way, then of course we will,” he said.

Speaking separately to BBC Breakfast, Dowden said: “I would love to be able to announce that pantos can return. I have to say it will be quite challenging to be able to get to that point.

“Because if you think about a panto, and we all love going to the panto for the joy of it, but it also supports local theatres, you have got granny through to grandchild all packed in together, you know how kids are encouraged to shout and scream at panto season, there’s lots of sort of interaction.

“So I would love us to be able to do it. We’re working with Public Health England and others to see about mitigations but I just want to be a bit realistic about the challenges of getting us back to that point any time soon.”

Related: UK theatre faces ruin amid coronavirus crisis, say top cultural figures

Announcing the package, Boris Johnson said arts and culture werethe soul of the nation. The bailout includes a £1.15bn support pot for cultural organisations in England, consisting of £270m in loans and £880m in grants. There is also £100m of targeted support for England’s national cultural institutions and English Heritage.

The package includes £120m of capital investment to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and for heritage construction projects in England paused because of the pandemic. There is also extra money for devolved administrations, with £97m for Scotland, £59m for Wales and £33m for Northern Ireland.

The shadow culture secretary, Jo Stevens, said although the package was much-needed, for some arts venues it was “already too late”. “I do wonder what took the government so long,” she told BBC Radio 4.

“They have known the problems in the sector for weeks and weeks and weeks and for some areas and some organisations and theatres across the country from north to south, it’s already too late, jobs have gone.”

Among those welcoming the bailout were Arts Council England, the Royal Opera House, the Society of London Theatre, UK Theatre, and the Music Venue Trust. Arts Council England chairman, Nicholas Serota, said the package was a “very significant investment”.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the theatre impresario, said the funding was “truly welcome at a time when so many theatres, orchestras, entertainment venues and other arts organisations face such a bleak future”.

The National Theatre’s artistic director, Rufus Norris, said there would be “many challenges ahead” for the industry, but added: “We feel very positive that this major investment will reach and sustain the vital talent and infrastructure – both organisations and freelancers – which make British theatre truly world-leading.”