a year ago theatres in england closed their doors because of the pandemic. in that time the theatre world has lost income of around 200 million pounds. many theatre workers are freelancers and a quarter of them have gone out of business. our arts editor will gompertz has spoken to four performers who ve had to change jobs to make ends meet. music: there s no business like showbusiness theatre, one of the great success stories of britain s creative industries but this time last year the bright lights of the west end went dark. theatreland s professionals suddenly found themselves unemployed and needing a plan b. i am a freelance and as well as the show, i also do a range of other kinds of playing such as concerts and recording sessions and tourism things like that. as well as the show closing, all of that went up in smoke. so all of your income has disappeared? yes, exactly. these guys here were looking for an extra pair of hands and they kindly agreed to take me on. in fact
wallstreetbets thinking that this is a safe place to spend money. gamestop has been characterised as a wallstreetbets vs wall street battle. but we didn t interview anyone who thought it was as simple as that. i suppose the question is, was this a people s revolution? well, it certainly started as a people s revolution. and then i m sure it would be only logical that any shrewd, large investor would say, hmm, look what they re doing, let s jump on that bandwagon. and i think the important thing, and what makes this dangerous, is those sophisticated investors that got in on the back are smart enough and sophisticated enough to know when to get out of the situation, while the little guy is typically the one that ends up holding the bag. and that s very dangerous and sad. tantalisingly, what could have happened is hedge funds taking aim at other hedge funds.
whether he felt any responsibility for those who lost out. i think any trade, any trade, notjust a risky one like that wallstreetbets is known for, has risks. but it also has opportunity. and i think it s important that individuals have that opportunity. like, i don t think we as a society should be so paternal to say that, well, this group is smart enough to make these decisions, but this group, you know, we should keep them out. and nobody goes to wallstreetbets thinking that this is a safe place to spend money. gamestop has been characterised as a wallstreetbets vs wall street battle. but we didn t interview anyone who thought it was as simple as that. i suppose the question is, was this a people s revolution? well, it certainly started as a people s revolution. and then i m sure it would be only logical that any shrewd,