2 October 2020
Dear members and friends,
Following the Government's announcement at the end of August that amateur theatre could restart and the excitement that this generated, we had hoped in this newsletter to share with you our plans at least in a limited way to start getting Sedos back and operating "in-person" whilst being mindful, of course, of the need to continue online activities, given the inability or reluctance of many of our members to travel into London at this time.
To that end, we had been liaising with the Bridewell; with the Working team about performing a "socially distanced" production; with various members' groups (such as Simprov and Sedance); planning a small production and thinking about how to make BHG "Covid-Secure" - to ensure that everything was done safely and within the Government guidance.
Sadly, however, as you will be aware, in light of rising coronavirus cases, a couple of weeks ago the Government started to tighten the rules. Initially by the introduction of the Rule of Six, which immediately put paid to our plans to stage Working; but then also by putting more legal obligations on organisations around ensuring compliance together with a general discouragement of non-essential social activities.
As such, we have come to the very sad decision that now is not the right time to be restarting any face-to-face activities.
But all is not lost. Our discussions with the Bridewell continue and we are already reviewing how we can do socially distanced performing/audiences in readiness for our return. We would encourage our members to start thinking about ideas for socially distanced performances and activities too. Moreover, we have developed a "Roadmap to Make BHG Covid-Secure" - which will be required when we feel able to restart activities and we are committed to the necessary investment to implement this.
In the meantime, we are launching some new online activities - and there will be more! If you have any suggestions, and in particular if you are up for organising something, please let us know. If members' want to do more creative things that can be easily facilitated within the current limitations, then we are always very happy to support and consider any suggestions. If you have any suggestions, or indeed any other comments about we could be doing at this time, please do contact us via committee@sedos.co.uk.
We will continue to keep a very close eye on the Government's guidance and continue to listen to the thoughts of our members with the intention of re-starting at least some in-person activities just as soon as we able to do so.
We realise many of you will be disappointed but ultimately the health and safety of all of our members is the most important thing at this very difficult time.
Stay safe,
Dawn and Matt on behalf of the Trustees and the Management Committee