The total number of job cuts at Norwich Theatre Royal, Playhouse and Stage Two has been confirmed amid uncertainty as to when the venues will be able to reopen at full capacity.

Norwich Evening News: Norwich Theatre chief executive Stephen Crocker outside the Norwich Playhouse. Picture: Norwich TheatreNorwich Theatre chief executive Stephen Crocker outside the Norwich Playhouse. Picture: Norwich Theatre (Image: Archant)

Across the three venues, all run by Norwich Theatre, 165 individuals have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the financial implications of prolonged closure.

At the start of July, Norwich Theatre announced a major restructure of its 217 staff and said that 113 employees were at risk of redundancy - making up 53pc of the workforce. A further 59 employees engaged on “irregular zero hours contracts” were told they would no longer receive any work.

On Thursday, Stephen Crocker, Norwich Theatre chief executive, said: “It is with great sadness that following a 45-day consultation period with our staff which concluded on August 17, during which period we had not been able to confirm a date for when large scale shows can return to Theatre Royal which is critical to our future planning, we had to confirm that the roles of 79 individuals had been made redundant.

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Norwich Evening News: Stage Two at the Theatre Royal. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYStage Two at the Theatre Royal. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Archant)

“This followed the agreement of voluntary redundancies with 31 individuals and the termination of contracts for a further 55 flexible hours staff.

“Our Board of Trustees and I are hugely grateful for the huge contributions our talented team have made to the success of Norwich Theatre and thank them for their commitment to our organisation.

“None of us could have predicted the extent of the impact that Covid-19 would have on our organisation and our sector as a whole as theatres like ours across the country are being forced to remain closed and therefore make major changes in order to ensure that they can reopen again.

“My team and I have been working together to support all of our staff at what is an incredibly difficult time.”

All three venues have been shut since March, with Norwich Theatre Royal having to cut short its month-long run of hit musical Les Misérables.

At the start of August, trade union Bectu, who represent theatre workers across the country, said that it had been made aware of 5,000 job losses in the industry due to coronavirus.