Paul Robinson from Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre on what an artistic director does during lockdown

What does a theatre artistic director do during lockdown?

At the moment: planning ahead, with necessarily limited information; talking to local artists; looking at creative ways we can do things; deciding with my team what can go online; trying to keep staff morale high; reporting to the board; trying to progress various commissions.

How has it differed from before lockdown?

What was an initial break in the routine quickly gave way to missing everyone.Of course – talking to people via Zoom. I enjoyed it at first, but have grown to loathe it. One day last week I had 11 hours of Zoom meetings. I love seeing the family as much as I do and one thing I do like is being able to work in my shorts.

How has it been not going to see productions live?

Terrible. The best bits of my job are welcoming new artists and companies into the building and being there for them at the end of the show.

As for online work, the quality end of the online stuff is, of course, fantastic: but it will never replace the live

experience and the buzz of having people in a building.

The best we can do at the moment is to be there for our community in whatever ways they need us. Our civic role is important under normal conditions but being there for the inhabitants of this town and region is more crucial than ever at the moment.

How do you keep in touch with what is going on in the theatrical world?

The situation has brought us closer to the other theatres in the country. Imagine if this had happened 30 years ago, when all we had was our landlines, and if we were really at the cutting edge, a fax. Now, there’s a constant round of communication on email, social media, Whats

App groups …

Have you had time to look at things differently?

The last couple of months have forced us to look at things in different ways – we have to be ready for and responsive to whatever the ‘new normal’ turns out to be.

We don’t yet have a clear steer for the sector – we’re all lobbying the government for clearer guidelines and financial support. Theatre is in a crisis. Current estimates are that 70 per cent of theatres are under threat and may not be here without further government support by the end of the year.

We understand, of course, that we’re never going to be at the top of the government’s list of priorities, but I think it’s worth pointing out that, according to the most recently available figures from UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre in 2018 British theatres attracted a combined audience of more than 34 million people and created ticket revenue of nearly £13bn a year – twice that of the Premier League.

That’s a vibrant sector and our theatres are envied worldwide. But – just as a start point for everything else that follows – we need to know when we can bring our staff safely back into the building – and then we need to return stronger.

How do you combine work and family life “I couldn’t do any of it without my amazing wife, Sarah, who is also working. It’s been pretty trying to be honest – I think we can safely say we have somewhat re-defined our minimum standards when it comes to parenting,” he said.

Will live theatre return to the Stephen Joseph Theatre before Christmas

“I do hope so – it’s what we’re all about, after all,” he said.

“We’re contemplating starting in the autumn with a ‘light touch’ programme – probably just some films to start with. “But we need to make sure our health and safety measures are properly in place first – audience safety is paramount, we just won’t open till that’s guaranteed. Our Christmas show is in the balance but we hope to have some kind of festive offering, depending on social distancing of course. In the meantime there is a host of activity online available on our website.”