Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Covid marshals are killing theatre: The Shrine & Bed Among the Lentils reviewed

The performances were excellent but the atmosphere at the Bridge Theatre was muted and uneasy

Heartbreakingly funny: Lesley Manville in Alan Bennett's Bed Among The Lentils at the Bridge Theatre. Photo: Zac Nicholson 
issue 19 September 2020

Covid marshals have invaded theatreland. Arriving for a weekday matinee at the Bridge, I was greeted by stewards holding up illuminated boards. ‘PLEASE WEAR A FACE COVERING.’ Inside, the seating had been rearranged into clumps of twos and threes with the odd single perch sticking out like a toadstool. Nicholas Hytner offered us a pair of the best-loved scripts by his favourite living playwright, Alan Bennett.

The afternoon was stuffy and I took sips from a bottle of water in accordance with signage which suggested that masks might be removed for the purposes of drinking. After each glug I diligently replaced my covering. Ten minutes into the show, I was visited by a Covid marshal who informed me that the position of my mouth-wear dissatisfied him. ‘Can you put your mask over your nose? I keep seeing you taking it off.’ I did so. He crept back into the shadows to continue spying on me.

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