BRITAIN’S arts industry is in the midst of an “existential crisis.” So says Paul W Fleming, newly elected leader of actors’ union Equity.

The stark stats would certainly suggest so. A huge 40 per cent of Equity members haven’t been able to get financial help through the government’s coronavirus support packages, according to the union’s own figures. 

More than a fifth have applied for universal credit and a similar number are either working outside the entertainment industry or are actively looking for other work.

But is this at all surprising when you have a Chancellor who talks of “viable jobs” when announcing government support packages? 

Given that theatres have been forced to keep their doors closed, those in the industry were under no illusions as to who Rishi Sunak was referring to.

The arts industry has undoubtedly been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but Fleming talks of another pandemic — the “pandemic of precariousness” — the one that has seen austerity and cuts slowly chipping away at the industry for many more years.

“Coronavirus has merely been a catalyst that has highlighted deep-seated problems in the arts industry that have existed long before,” he argues.

“What the pandemic has shown us is how extreme these problems are.

“The question is do we want to return to an industry the way it was before the pandemic — most would say no.”

In response to the non-existent government lifeline, Equity has launched its Four Pillar plan — workforce protection, safe opening, protecting infrastructure and equality — to outline what is required to help the industry recover.

Fleming says: “Four Pillars is about analysing the government’s response in some areas that have been affected. 

“If you look at theatre and variety, the government’s approach has fallen far short of what is needed.

“To be blunt, the demographic who would go to a midweek matinee are going to be pensioners, and they are not going to be returning to the theatre for some time, so there needs to be a different approach to funding.”

One approach put forward by the union in its Four Pillars plan is a proposed “seat out to help out” — an initiative similar to the government’s eat out scheme, which Fleming argues only helped one industry.

Under the theatre version, reopening could be supported by ticket subsidies that could potentially boost audience members by those who could previously not afford to go.

The government could also help fund the arts, Equity suggests, by ensuring actors and creatives are fairly paid for online streaming events. 

The National Theatre streamed live recordings of productions during the first lockdown, but relied on donations from viewers.

Another key battleground for Fleming is equality. As the first out LGBTQ general secretary of a major trade union, he is acutely aware of the years of under-representation in the arts for minority groups including working-class and black and ethnic minorities.

“There’s an enormous crisis of representation in the industry and the coronavirus pandemic is making it worse for all of them,” he says.

“Members are sick of waiting for a utopia on equalities. Black and ethnic minorities, working-class, the elderly, women and LGBTQ actors are still massively under-represented.

“Unfortunately when the pay is so bad it inevitably leads to under-representation. That’s why our priority number one is pay.

“And if funding were increased we would end up with more jobs for artists.”

Birmingham-born Fleming, a Southwark Labour councillor who cites Tony Benn as a political hero, is a committed trade unionist with years of organising experience in Equity and steelworkers’ union Community before that.

Yet one can’t help but ask if his definitive win to head the prestigious Equity union, receiving 69 per cent of the vote to beat opponent Simon Curtis, isn’t a bit of a poisoned chalice.

His predecessor Christine Payne, who led the union for 15 years, presided over a period of growth that saw Equity’s membership increase 25 per cent to 45,000. 

That growth is now in decline, largely due to Covid-19, as members are leaving the profession in droves.

One initiative to retain members is through “subscription solidarity,” which invites better-off union members to donate to a benevolent fund to help others keep their membership and all the benefits that go with it.

Fleming, forever positive, remains undaunted by the task ahead: “We are in as good a position as we could be to go into something we didn’t expect would happen.

“It’s the reality of where we are, but we need to ensure that the problem isn’t terminal.”