Patricia Quinn: The show will go on again. Until then, the arts need help

As Culture Night gets going, mostly online, Patricia Quinn says Covid-19 has dealt a hard blow to the entertainment and arts sectors — and we need to ensure they are not wiped out, writes Patricia Quinn

Theatres and arts centres all over Ireland, not to mention some 100 festivals, make an enormous contribution to Irish life. Anti-Covid-19 measures are hurting the performing arts, making many events practically impossible to run. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty

MORE on the stage than in the audience — that was the phrase used by people working in theatre to describe the circumstances under which a show might not go on — although surely most artists have experienced poor houses at some time in their working lives.

Thanks to the coronavirus, what was the exception has become the norm.