Liz Carr calls for theatres to introduce mask-only performances for vulnerable people

Liz Carr has urged theatre venues to consider hosting mask-only performances to ensure that the arts remain accessible for all.

The Silent Witness star voiced concern theatres are becoming a no-go for those with underlying health conditions as the number of people continuing to wear masks falls, despite a new surge in Covid cases.

Carr has used a wheelchair since she was seven and she is one of the most high-profile disabled actors in the UK.

Now the actress, 49, has suggested the answer is having separate performances for those who want to wear masks or socially distance.

She told BBC News: “Theatre should remain accessible even to those of us who have health conditions. If I’d had a five-minute speech, I would’ve talked about how I haven’t been to the theatre in over two years. This is a frightening night for me.

“Now, you could say, ‘Yeah but you did a play, Liz, in front of 1,200 people every night’. Yes, but I was on stage with everybody who was testing, everybody in the cast tested every day, so I felt safer than being a random member of the public in an audience around people I didn’t know.

“I’m not sure about [the issue of] everybody wearing face masks. Personally, I think yes, they should in indoor environments because Covid-19 is airborne.

“But I think theatres could think about having safer performances. I think they should have face mask performances that are more socially distanced. In the same way you might have a British Sign Language performance, I think you should have Covid-safer performances.”

She was speaking backstage at London’s Royal Albert Hall after she was named best supporting actress at the Olivier Awards on Sunday for her role in The Normal Heart.

Theatres were hit massively by the pandemic and remained largely closed during lockdown.

Compulsary face mask measures were scrapped in England earlier this year with Covid restrictions easing due to the success of the vaccine rollout.