Indoor entertainment venues in many areas can now reopen, so what’s on and how will they work?
image copyrightGetty Images
Many indoor entertainment venues in England, Wales and parts of Scotland are reopening for the first time in months, in line with official guidance.
Indoor events in England will be limited to 50% capacity, up to 1,000 people. Social distancing and face masks will still be required.
Venues cannot yet reopen in Glasgow, while stricter distancing rules in the rest of Scotland mean many will wait.
Northern Ireland’s cinemas will open on 24 May, with live venues to follow.
The first event to get performers back on stage on Monday was a comedy night that began at one minute past midnight at The Bill Murray pub in London.
Here is a round-up of some of the main films, shows and exhibitions you can see in the coming days:
image copyrightWarner Bros
Films being released in cinemas on Monday include:
- Mortal Kombat (pictured) – The third movie to be based upon the hit video game has been a hit at those US box offices that are open
- Peter Rabbit 2 – With Peter voiced by James Corden, this animation comes three years after the original family favourite
- Nomadland – The quietly compelling road movie comes to the big screen after taking the top honours at the Oscars
- Raya and the Last Dragon – This Disney fantasy follows warrior Raya, voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who must track down a mythical dragon
- Spiral: From the Book of Saw – Chris Rock and Samuel L Jackson try to breathe life into the gory Saw franchise
- Those Who Wish Me Dead – Angelina Jolie plays a firefighter who has to protect a boy from two ruthless assassins
- Minari – Another Oscar-winning film, about a Korean-American farming family who start a new life in 1980s Arkansas
- Sound of Metal – Riz Ahmed was nominated for an Oscar for playing a rock drummer who loses his hearing
Vue, Odeon, Showcase, Everyman and Curzon are among the cinemas opening on Monday, with Cineworld and Picturehouse following on Wednesday.
image copyrightAndrew Brooks
- Many major venues including the Tate, Natural History Museum, British Museum, National Gallery, Royal Museums Greenwich are opening on Monday
- Claude Monet’s landscape painting Antibes (1888) will be the centrepiece of the Monet in Mind exhibition at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull from Monday
- South Shields Museum and Art Gallery celebrates animator Sheila Graber, who worked on the Paddington and Just So Stories TV series, from Monday
- Sneakers Unboxed, tracing the rise and fashions of casual footwear, is at the Design Museum in London from Tuesday
- The exhibition of work from Grayson Perry’s hit Channel 4 show Grayson’s Art Club (pictured) will finally open at Manchester Art Gallery on Wednesday
- The V&A in London opens on Wednesday, with its major new exhibition delving into the 157-year fascination with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland opening on Saturday
- The Art of Banksy, billed as an unofficial exhibition of the largest collection of his work, opens in a former bar at 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London, on Thursday
- More than 100 landscapes created by David Hockney on his iPad while in lockdown in Normandy last spring will go on show at the Royal Academy in London on Sunday
National Museum Wales’ seven sites will reopen from Wednesday, while museums and galleries in Northern Ireland can do so from 24 May. Scottish museums and galleries have been able to open since last month.
Visitors must book tickets in advance to control numbers and allow social distancing.
On Monday, the Art Fund published a survey saying that 55% of museums and galleries remain concerned about their long-term survival.
- The Fat White Family (pictured) are the first band out of the blocks and back on tour, starting at The Lexington in London on Monday
- The Jazz Cafe in London has a full line-up from Monday, including socially-distanced shows by neo-soul artist Lyamah and folk singer James Yorkston
- Pop singer Alfie Templeman, who was on the BBC Sound of 2021 list, plays an album launch gig at Club Pryzm, Kingston Upon Thames, on Thursday
- Former Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys plays at Islington Assembly Hall in London and Chalk in Brighton on Friday and Saturday
- Folk legend Shirley Collins will reopen The Barbican in London on Sunday with a show that will also be streamed
- The Mousetrap – The Agatha Christie murder mystery, which is the West End’s longest-running show, is among the first to return (St Martin’s Theatre, London, from 17 May)
- April in Paris – Joe Pasquale and Sarah Earnshaw play a jaded married couple in John Godber’s comedy (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, 17-19 May, then on tour)
- These Hills Are Ours – Performer/playwright Daniel Bye and Chumbawamba musician Boff Whalley’s play is inspired by running – and the pair will run between venues on the opening leg of their tour (Woolsery, Devon, 17 May, then on tour)
- Cruise – A new one-man musical set in 1980s Soho and based on a true story writer and actor Jack Holden heard while volunteering for a LGBT helpline (Duchess, London, 18 May-13 June)
- Decades – Six monologues by writers including Simon Armitage, Alice Nutter and Maxine Peake celebrate Leeds Playhouse’s 50th birthday (19-29 May)
- Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me – Writer and performer Amy Trigg plays Juno, born with spina bifida, who is navigating her 20s (Kiln, London, 21 May-12 June)
- Walden – Gemma Arterton plays a former Nasa architect in one of three new plays in the Re:Emerge season (Harold Pinter Theatre, London, 22 May-12 June)
- West End musicals opening this week are Amelie, Abba Mania, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Six and a concert version of Les Miserables.
- Read more: Theatres get ready to reopen, but fear a plot twist