A THEATRE in the city has lit up red in a show of solidarity for an industry ravaged by the pandemic.

Sarah-Jane Morgan CEO for Worcester Live said: “For the second time on Tuesday evening, the Swan Theatre stood in solidarity with the live events industry by turning the auditorium red, using their LED house lights.

“This is part of the #LightItRed campaign to highlight the desperate situation that our industry is facing being the first to close and the last to reopen following the Covid pandemic.

“The supply chain for major festivals through to small regional venues such as our very own Swan Theatre and Huntingdon Hall is at threat due to a lack of support and it risks collapse without immediate support from the government.

“By joining in this symbolic action, we are showing that we are united in our appeal for the #WeMakeEvents campaign running in tandem.

“We contract around 40 members of freelance staff a year and regularly hire lighting, scenery and skilled support for our artistic work, if this is lost it will have a devastating effect on the cultural ecology of our industry.”

The Theatre of Small Convenience in Malvern was also lit up by Chris Hollier.

He said: "I am a director of photography and lighting director working in the television industry.

"I approached the current custodians of the Theatre of Small Convenience to enquire about the possibility of illuminating the exterior of the Theatre on August 11 as part of the #LightItInRed #WeMakeEvents campaign to raise awareness of the campaign.

"I thought it would be a lovely story for the campaign to include one of the smallest theatres in the world alongside over 700 other buildings lit in red across the country from the Albert Hall to smaller regional performance spaces."

Mr Hollier offered to install his own equipment to light the exterior of the building using waterproof battery powered lighting fixtures in-case the weather changed and so he could be self-sufficient without having to draw on any of the theatres resources or staff.

He added: "I took along my stills camera and shot a stop motion animation of the #LightItInRed logo outside the theatre.

"This involved using a clever bit of lighting/photography kit which creates imagery using a stick of LED lights.

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