The Alliance of Associations & professionals in theatre & live events launch NOT HERE ALL YEAR campaign

The Alliance of Associations and Professionals in Theatre & Live Events (AAPTLE) have today announced the Not Here All Year campaign, which marks the anniversary of theatres closing their doors due to the pandemic.

The union, who represent theatre workers across the UK, will share freelancers’ photographs of venues in the days ahead of the closure and throughout the last year, highlighting the loss of work over the year, and to celebrate the industry, looking forward to when venues are able to reopen. Photographs will be shared on Instagram with the hashtag #NotHereAllYear, with those across the industry encouraged to take part.

Chairs of the Association of Lighting Designers and the Association of Sound Designers,Johanna Town and Dominic Bilkey respectively, said:“It has been an extraordinarily tough year for theatre and live events professionals. The #NotHereAllYear campaign will celebrate the resilience and determination of theatre makers. It aims to highlight the fact that, although many of us have not worked for 12 months and counting, we want to get back to making theatre at the earliest opportunity. Our hope is that together we can collectively change the landscape for the better.”

As an organisation, AAPTLE are supporting and campaigning on a range of issues affecting the theatre and live entertainment workforce and the industry more widely. Current areas of focus include Covid-19, Brexit, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, education and outreach, unions and lobbying, and the future of freelancers. The latter was the focus of The Alliance’s previously Back to Work campaign, in which it issued an open letter asking for a commitment from producers and theatre companies to maintain pre-Covid rates for freelancers upon the return to work.

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