What impact did location have on freelance theatre workers’ experiences of the pandemic? Laura Harris shares findings from Freelancers in the Dark’s latest survey.
How did theatre freelancers’ locations affect their experiences of the pandemic? How might the geography of theatre-making in the UK—by which we mean the physical location, distribution, and activity across the four nations—have been changed by events since March 2020? In order to address these questions, we have turned to our 397 survey respondents. Analyzing these responses by postcode and nation, as well as considering the written reflections on location, has given us some intriguing initial insights.
Existing research showed theatre activity in the UK to be clustered around core cities, making commuting and travelling for work a pre-COVID norm. 87.9% of our survey respondents were ‘Often’ or ‘Sometimes’ travelling across the UK for work purposes, while 63.4% undertook European travel, before March 2020. This demonstrates that our respondents were highly mobile before COVID-19 struck. The removal of the ability to travel for work created a major problem with immediate consequences.
This mobility was quickly replaced by the widespread use of digital meeting platforms. For those whose work is often located in London (around which theatre-making is clustered) but who do not live there, our survey shows this new normal to be roundly considered a net benefit... Keep reading on Freelancers in the Dark.
How did theatre freelancers’ locations affect their experiences of the pandemic? How might the geography of theatre-making in the UK—by which we mean the physical location, distribution, and activity across the four nations—have been changed by events since March 2020? In order to address these questions, we have turned to our 397 survey respondents. Analyzing these responses by postcode and nation, as well as considering the written reflections on location, has given us some intriguing initial insights.
Existing research showed theatre activity in the UK to be clustered around core cities, making commuting and travelling for work a pre-COVID norm. 87.9% of our survey respondents were ‘Often’ or ‘Sometimes’ travelling across the UK for work purposes, while 63.4% undertook European travel, before March 2020. This demonstrates that our respondents were highly mobile before COVID-19 struck. The removal of the ability to travel for work created a major problem with immediate consequences.
This mobility was quickly replaced by the widespread use of digital meeting platforms. For those whose work is often located in London (around which theatre-making is clustered) but who do not live there, our survey shows this new normal to be roundly considered a net benefit... Keep reading on Freelancers in the Dark.