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Cats get leading roles at theatres
Pets could solve rats crisis
WANTED: Whiskered and pawed rat-catchers with a smell for blood to stalk the backstage boards of West End theatres.
While producers and stage stars are going deaf with encores from what has been hailed as a golden age of West End theatre, the Victorian auditoriums that showcase their exploits are being slowly colonised by an army of vermin.
The situation has got so bad that the actors union Equity has launched a campaign to reintroduce a clowder of theatre cats.
A motion was passed last week for the widespread reintroduction of cats to the buildings, which was last commonplace in the 1980s, to combat the problem which its 1,000 members who work in the West End say is making their jobs unbearable.
The motion said there had been a “marked rise in vermin infestation” over the past few years, and that cats “represent an environmentally sound alternative to poison and traps, but are also good for morale”.
Martin McGara, from Equity, said: “Most of these theatres are overrun with rats and mice, but the public just don’t see it because these theatres front of house are so spruced up. It is a real problem for actors, who do a long and tiring job and shouldn’t have to put up with vermin.
“It might sound strange, but in the 1980s pretty much every theatre had a cat for just this reason. We will now be going to every theatre owner in the West End and asking them to get a cat. It’s not expensive. We’re not saying, ‘let’s do away with pest control’, but they are proved to be effective. Also, having a cat around can be a morale booster for actors – it becomes part of the cast.
“In the next couple of weeks we are going to be contacting all our members about conditions, because a lot of the buildings are becoming a health and safety issue.”
The move comes in the wake of controversial comments attacking the beleaguered state of many West End venues made by Culture Minister Barbara Follett. She told a conference organised by the Theatres Trust that facilities at West End venues were “shameful”, condemning the “ludicrously inadequate supply of toilets, seating installed in an age when theatre-goers were considerably smaller than they are today, and overcrowded lobbies can take the shine off an evening’s entertainment.”
Richard Pulford, chief executive of The Society of London Theatre, said: “They better get the right kind of cats. In my experience some cats are scared of rats, and they set the alarms off. To be honest, I think it’s one of these romantic ideas, but there are better ways of tackling the problems. I don’t think actors are that bothered by rats anyway.”
In 2003, a report by the Theatres Trust called for £250million to be spent on West End venues, the majority of which are listed buildings dating back to Victorian and Edwardian times. Theatre owners have always pleaded poverty when it comes to repairs, claiming it is the producers who are making all the money. The report failed to convince either the government or the London Development Agency that they should provide the money. |
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