Actors in drag march to highlight virus threat to UK theater
Scores of actors, technicians and theater workers led by pantomime “Dames” — male actors in fabulously eccentric drag -- marched through London’s West End to Parliament to the beat of showtunes Wednesday, asking the government for a plan to bring theaters back to life. It’s in deadly peril at the moment.”The coronavirus pandemic brought down the curtains at Britain’s theaters overnight in March. “Pantos sustain whole years,” said Dec Togher, a technician at a West End theater. “It’s like a game of Kerplunk — if you take this stick out, the whole thing collapses.”Many theater workers and artists are also struggling to survive. The Nimax group of six West End theaters will reopen starting Oct. 22, with social distancing, temperature checks and other measures.