Downton star Hugh Bonneville: "The strongest theatres will survive"

But Hugh, who joins Chichester Festival Theatre’s Fun in the Park event on Monday, August 31, also looks ahead with a degree of optimism.

“The strongest will survive; the most imaginative will survive; the ones that inspire the greatest loyalty will survive, providing they can all make their audiences feel safe. I don’t think they will bounce back, but I do think they will emerge. I was on holiday in the Mediterranean, and there was a terrible forest fire there. The landscape was completely dark. I remember thinking how terrible it looked. There was this scarred, almost lunar landscape. But I remember going back two years later and thinking how absolutely incredible nature is. You could see new trees, new growth, new species, new ways through, and I think it is the same with us humans. As humans we go through incredibly tough hardships, and yet somehow we have survived. We emerge maybe stronger. Do we learn the lessons of the past? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do think we can emerge bolder and brighter and more inventive.”

And Hugh suspects the same might be the case with theatre – with determination, goodwill and carefulness.

Crucial too will be an understanding that the arts are exactly that: crucial.

“The key thing about this (government funding) package is that there is a feeling that the arts are just a little add-on to our lives, a little frippery. In fact, they are a vast part of our economy. The arts generate billions of pounds. Chichester Festival Theatre alone generated more than £20 million for the local economy in 2018-2019. The arts matter hugely financially to this country, quite apart from how much they matter to us as humans, challenging us and challenging our thoughts and our emotions. When that pipeline was turned off, it was very, very scary. And there is no question, with the little stops gaps and furlough coming to an end, that October, November and December will be the real crunch. That’s what is going to sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of survival.

“But the key thing that people forgot when this package was announced was that it did not take into account that 70 per cent of the people that work in this industry are freelance and they are not supported by the package.”

As for the venues, it is a complicated situation ahead: “There is no question that social distancing will be difficult to make financially viable in theatres. Most theatre depend on 75 per cent or more (attendance) to break even, and a huge number of local theatres depend on panto as their big money-earner for the year.

“So there are so really serious questions for the short and medium term for theatre. But theatre will arise out of it, I am sure. That’s what the arts do. The arts always rise out of whatever carnage has ensued. If you look back in history, then theatre always comes back in the most astonshing way, and I have no doubt that there will be a renaissance of artistic energies. But in the short term this is disastrous, and there will be a Darwinian element where some survive and some won’t.”

And it is not just the theatre, says Hugh, star of series including Downton Abbey and films including Paddington one and two: “TV and film have been decimated. Most of my friends in the middle of a production just had to go home. There have been lots of discussions about how to get productions back up and running, and a few of my friends have gone back. They are beginning to find ways, but the single-biggest factor in TV or film is going to be insurance.

“If you are going to mount a production, you won’t be able to afford the insurance premiums that will be put in place. If one of the key actors starts coughing, then that’s the whole thing down for two weeks.

“It is going to need the government to underwrite that insurance. We are not just talking about actors wanting to go back to prancing around in tights. We are talking about thousands and thousands of people working in an industry that creates massive revenue for the government, and we need to get back to it in a safe way. But no production is going to go back to work if they can’t get the insurance.

“But the upside is that some things are beginning to emerge. Some of the soaps are going back, which is heartening. Everyone is looking to be very supportive.”

And that’s the context for the Chichester Festival Theatre Bank Holiday fun which Hugh is delighted to be joining – the CFT’s Family Fun in the Park event in Oaklands Park on Monday, August 31, part of a day of outdoor performances being staged by the theatre.

“It is going to be wonderful,” Hugh says. “It will remind people that the theatre is trying to find a way back into life, that it is trying to find a way out of this strange cocoon by trying to bring the community together and to say that, yes, we do remember how we used to share our entertainment.

“The Bank Holiday Monday will be a wonderful way to remind ourselves of these wonderful West End stars (Gina Beck, Gabrielle Brooks, Rob Houchen, Julian Ovenden and Giles Terera) who are coming down to give of their talent because they care about Chichester, because they care about all that the theatre has done for the community.

“Chichester Festival Theatre has inspired an immense affection and respect. It has been the start of so many wonderful shows that have gone on to London and have gone on around the world. And now some of those stars are coming back, and it will be great.

“We are going to be there to share an experience, and I do believe that audiences are hungry for that shared experience, but I do also believe that audiences are very sensible.

“It will be an inevitable first step towards distancing in the theatre. The days of the bear pit at The Globe in London are going to be a while off, but this is an important first step.”

When theatre returns, with social distancing in place, inevitably venues will be looking to mount smaller – and therefore less expensive – shows, Hugh believes.

“But Daniel (Evans, Chichester Festival Theatre artistic director) is already saying ‘I am going to do South Pacific next year! Why let this thing shrink?’ There are huge economic calls that will have to be made about what they can afford to do, and these are issues that theatres will need to face for the foreseeable future. But I do think perhaps there will be more outdoor work being done.”

n Chichester’s Music & Movies weekend has been put together by Chichester Festival Theatre and Chichester Cinema at New Park. Films will be shown in Northgate car park, produced by the CFT and Chichester Cinema at New Park from Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30.

Films coming up are:

Grease (PG), August 28, 8.30pm. Grease tells the story of wholesome exchange student, Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and slick charmer, Danny Zuko (John Travolta).

Singin’ In The Rain (U), August 29, 5.30pm. A technicolor love song to Hollywood, co-directed by Stanley Donen and lead actor Gene Kelly. Silent movie idol Don Lockwood (Kelly) is in love with chorus girl Kathy (Debbie Reynolds), at war with leading lady Lina.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15), August 29, 9pm. When clean-cut kids Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) get stranded in the rain after their car breaks down, they look for help at a strange castle with strange inhabitants...

Onward (U), August 30, 10.30am. Set in a suburban fantasy world, brothers Ian and Barley embark on an extraordinary adventure in a funny and moving tale.

Some Like It Hot (12), August 30, 3.30pm. Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis star in this joyous Billy Wilder comedy..

The Greatest Showman (PG). August 30, 8pm. Inspired by the life of P T Barnum.

The CFT’s day of outdoor performances then follows on Monday, August 31. Hugh Bonneville headlines Family Fun in the Park, reading Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea and Mog the Forgetful Cat, with actors using puppetry to bring the stories to life.

And then, at a concert (sold out) that evening, Omid Djalili will introduce songs from the musicals with West End performers.