"萬磁王"捐款幫助劇院工作者挺過疫情難關

Ushers, stage hands, dressers and those who work on the stage door of the nation's empty theatres are struggling to survive during lockdown, with some even contemplating suicide according to the industry charity, The Theatrical Guild. Now Sir Ian McKellen, the renowned stage and screen star, has helped to launch an emergency fund to support them.

英國劇院空無一人，居家隔離使引座員、舞臺管理員、服裝師，以及後臺工作人員生活艱難，該行業的慈善機構The Theatrical Guild說其中有些人甚至企圖自殺。現在著名舞臺和熒幕明星伊恩·麥克萊恩爵士推出了一個應急基金來幫他們過活。

The actor, famous for playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Tolkien films, has kicked off the fundraising drive with a donation of 40,000 pounds of the money raised from his recent 80th birthday tour of British theatres.

這名演員最著名的作品是在彼得·傑克遜拍攝的托爾金的作品中飾演甘道夫。他捐出了最近80歲生日時在英國劇院巡迴演出籌得的40,000英鎊，併發起籌款活動。

"Many people who work in the theatre industry have seen their livelihoods disappear due to the coronavirus lockdown," said McKellen. "I, for example, have received a distressing letter from a stage manager who is facing eviction from his home and can't access government relief."

麥克萊恩說：“很多在劇院工作的人受疫情隔離影響沒了生計。比如說，有一個舞臺經理給我寫了一封令人痛心的信，家人要把他趕出來，他又得不到政府救濟。”

The actor, who has recently announced a plan to play Hamlet again, 50 years after the last time, and who is now attending virtual rehearsals for the role, added that the emergency fund scheme is "a wonderful opportunity".

這位演員最近宣佈要再次出演哈姆雷特，距離上一次演出已經過去了50年，他正在參加這個角色的虛擬彩排，他說這個應急基金計劃是一個“良機”。

The guild was set up 125 years ago to support those who, with their varied sets of skills, are the unsung heroes of staged performances. Most are low-paid, self-employed or on zero hours contracts and as a result many have fallen through the safety nets put up by the government to protect those who lost work during the pandemic.

這個協會成立於125年前，就是爲了支持那些有各項技能的舞臺表演背後的無名英雄。其中大多數人要麼拿着低工資，要麼是自由職業者，要麼籤的是零工時合同，所以很多人都得不到疫情期間政府爲保護失業者而提供的社會保障。