WHILE performing live theatre to a packed house remains a distant dream, Oxford Playhouse will once again open its doors this month, but for a very different audience.

Instead of drama lovers and comedy fans, the auditorium of the Beaumont Street theatre will house the economists and business leaders of the future, with the venue being turned into a lecture space for Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

The theatre, which has suffered a major drop in revenue as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, will host the school’s Masters of Financial Economics students as part of social distancing measures which will see the size of student groups reduced from 80 down to 20.

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Despite the Government’s £1.57bn rescue package, the theatre is struggling. Its agreement with Oxford Saïd brings in vital income and enables the business school to teach safely.

Theatre director Louise Chantal said: "We are delighted to be able to accommodate this important part of the University of Oxford, allowing the business school to continue to teach its world-leading courses and utilise the theatre spaces until we are once again able to open for live performances.

Oxford Mail:

"This temporary arrangement is an elegant solution to some of the challenges both institutions face due to Covid-19.”

She said that, while socially-distanced live performance was now allowed, it was not viable for the Playhouse to open as it would involve cutting capacity from 632 to 140 for couples spaced two metres apart, or to 170 for one metre.

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She said: “This makes it impossible to break even on the cheapest of shows which fit our stage.

“We are mainly a receiving theatre rather than producing all our own work, so we are reliant on other producers bringing plays to us.

“Almost all the national tours have been cancelled for autumn 2020, and many for spring 2021 and beyond.

“While we are pleased to be able to help out the university by providing a space for the Saïd courses to go ahead, we’re concentrating on our Playhouse at Home programme which includes 10 new commissions of online pieces, and our participation courses online.

Oxford Mail:

“We are also working for the first time with new partners like Help the Aged and Oxfordshire Association for the Blind on special programmes designed to engage some of the most isolated and vulnerable people in our communities. Everybody can be assured the Playhouse team are fully employed being both creative and useful during our unexpected hiatus.”

Dean of the business school, Peter Tufano said: “This approach will deepen and extend the shared learning that has always been at the heart of our MBA, while giving us the flexibility to respond to evolving guidance on public health and physical distancing.”

Oxford Mail:

As the economic shock of the pandemic is felt across the world, the Oxford MBA has introducing a timely new course module, called Capitalism in Debate, which urges students to challenge the purpose and sustainability of the current economic system.