Theatres, operas and dance troupes in England can restart outdoor shows from this Saturday, the government announced tonight.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden revealed the date after months of pain for the arts industry - with theatres warning they're on their knees.
He said the reopening will allow the Glyndebourne opera festival to go ahead this year - along with the Minack Theatre in Cornwall.
But he risked enraging the industry after failing to give a date when indoor shows can resume.
That could spell disaster for London's West End Theatreland - which has lain dormant since March.
Indoor theatres had already been told they could reopen in a socially distanced way, but only if they don't put on live shows.
It comes days after the government announced a £1.5bn bailout for the arts.
Mr Dowden said: "All of these measures we are taking are conditional and they are reversible.
"And we will not hesitate to impose lockdowns where there are local spikes, as we saw in Leicester."
It came as the government announced a string of reopening dates for the arts and leisure industry.
Outdoor swimming pools can reopen from July 11, nail bars and tanning salons from July 13, and indoor gyms from July 25.
Yet Mr Dowden gave no date for the reopening of indoor theatres, which are facing mass closures and redundancies.
Instead the Government pledged to pilot "a number of small indoor performances with a social distanced audience to help inform plans about how best to get indoor venues back up and running."
Theatre venues will be forced to operate at a reduced capacity with only limited tickets - all of which must be bought online.
Venues should have social distancing marking, deep cleaning of auditoriums, and long enough gaps between shows to deep clean.
Only professionals may sing or play brass or wind instruments in front of an audience.
And performers, conductors, musicians “must observe social distancing wherever possible”.
Meanwhile, the government said a change in planning rules will mean theatres, concert halls and live music performance venues will be protected from demolition or change of use by developers.
Officials claimed it would stop those that have been made temporarily vacant during lockdown disappearing altogether.
