SCOTLAND’S theatres are still “some way away” from re-opening, the Culture Secretary has warned.

Yesterday, Fiona Hyslop told The National she was in discussions with the sector over what support could be made available to help make sure arts venues are able to return.

With no audiences and no income, and little idea of when they’ll be able to re-open, performing arts venues across Scotland have warned that they are in a precarious position.

Both the Lyceum in Edinburgh and the Pitlochry Festival Theatre have warned staff that there could be redundancies.

But it’s not just the venues, with no shows being booked, there’s no work for the choreographers, directors, sound engineers, stage managers, and thousands of other freelancers who make their living working in the industry.

At a meeting of freelancers and venues organised by the Independent Arts Projects organisation on Thursday, it was pointed out that the Scottish Government’s route map made no mention of theatres.

However, most in the sector believe mid to large-scale performances won’t be possible until the country enters phase four.

That will only happen when the virus “remains suppressed to very low levels and is no longer considered a significant threat to public health”.

One venue at the meeting said their income for the year was down 70%.

Another venue said they expected the disruption to last three years.

Another venue explained: “We sell more than 400,000 tickets every year. We have a trading arm that manages two cafes, two restaurants and six bars.

“We do all that with just more than 10% public subsidy. Almost everything is earned through ticket sales and trading income.

“The impact of the Covid-19 situation has been instant and devastating. We’ve cancelled or rescheduled 350 performances, which equates to 100,000 tickets worth nearly £3 million.

“We are fighting for the survival of our organisation.

“We’re applying for grants, lobbying whatever we can. We’ve brought in more than £800,000 (including £70,000 of donations from customers). Our organisation is in a precarious position.”

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily press briefing, Hyslop said it would be a real challenge for theatres.

“We’re still learning more about the virus and how it circulates so it’d be very very difficult to give any certainty at this stage as to when [re-opening] might be.

“But of course, as we know, theatres have to plan their productions way in advance so we are in active discussions as to what type of support they would need.”

She added that she was in discussions with the UK Culture Secretary to “understand some of their work” and “to identify the resources that we can collectively use”.