IT might look dramatic, but this is an emergency.

Theatres across Oxfordshire lit up their buildings with bright red light on Monday night to highlight the financial emergency facing their industry.

The Oxford Playhouse and the Old Firestation in the city centre were joined by the North Wall in Summertown, Pegasus in East Oxford and Chipping Norton Theatre.

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The stunt was part of a national campaign using the social media hashtag #LightItInRed aiming to draw attention to the plight of the entertainment industry.

Theatres, which have little source of income other than live performances, were forced to shut along with other entertainment venues and non-essential shops in March.

However, while pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen this weekend, theatres were not.

The Oxford Playhouse launched a fundraising campaign to keep it going which has raised more than £100,000, but in order to survive it said it would still have to make redundancies affecting up to 20 per cent of its 50 contracted staff.

Fine out more about the latest news at oxfordplayhouse.com