The culture secretary says he’ll save theatre from death by coronavirus. How?

Will it survive the economic downturn? It is certainly in a real mess. Plenty of actors are out of work, warns Charlotte Cripps

Actor David Tennant has expressed his concerns about the future of British arts and culture (Getty)

David Tennant says UK theatres are “teetering” close to collapse and has warned that the UK government will need to intervene for British theatre to survive the coronavirus pandemic. “You’re asking people to pay a lot of money to potentially have someone coughing into their packet of boiled sweets and infecting them,” he said in a Radio Times interview.

Tennant is doing his bit to help the industry. He will star with Claire Foy this month in London’s first socially-distanced play to help save the Old Vic from “seriously perilous” finances.

The hit Lungs which they appeared in together last year was meant to make its New York transfer, but will now be livestreamed from an empty Old Vic auditorium from 26 June to 4 July. The audience will be limited to the 1,000 seats of a regular performance and will pay standard ticket prices (£10-£65). While all “seats” offer the same view, the Old Vic is asking audiences to give what they can “to help support” them.