Job losses at theatres across the UK have jumped from 3,000 to 5,000 in less than a month, according to figures from the Bectu trade union.
The job losses include redundancies of permanent employees and layoffs of casual staff. Both types of worker are entitled to payments through the government’s job retention scheme.
Bectu, which represents workers in the entertainment industries, said about 2,700 of the job losses were in London. On Friday, the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), one of the biggest employers in British theatre, announced it would lay off 1,200 casual staff in September.
The additional job losses have come in the four weeks since the government announced a £1.57bn arts recovery package.
Philippa Childs, the head of Bectu, said: “The clock is still ticking to save the future of the theatre industry and these figures demonstrate the scale of the crisis it is facing. In July we warned that a storm would turn into a tsunami without further assistance. Despite details of the arts recovery package being announced we are still nowhere closer to the money being distributed.
“The tsunami we predicted is about to reach our shores as the timeline for action from the government has been too slow and there has been no flexibility for the industry and its access to the furlough scheme. Major industry businesses are releasing their lowest-paid staff from the furlough scheme and that trend is only set to continue up the ladder of the workforce.”
There were protests at the weekend outside the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre, which have both announced the loss of 400 jobs.
The actor Vanessa Redgrave told the protesters: “The National Theatre should be awarded the funding it needs to open again at the height of its powers … which means all of you. No redundancies anywhere – inside, outside, up or down. No redundancies.”
