Acclaimed local actor Mark Hadlow has accepted that the immediate future looks bleak for actors and theatre-goers alike.

Theatres have closed their doors during the Covid 19 lockdown, leaving actors and workers out of work and out of pocket.

Hadlow told Kate Hawkesby it's unlikely theatres will start again within the next three months, and it could be longer before audiences feel comfortable about sitting next to strangers.

"You can't necessarily put 500 people together in a theatre because just one of those people has to have Covid-19, and you've got a pretty dangerous situation."

He says that those concerns of being in close proximity are shared by actors as well. 

"Laughing in some cases causes an awful lot of sptitle, so that I think is a real worry."