"We have to pay hundreds of pounds, fill in form after form, and spend weeks waiting for approval – just so we can do our jobs"

In a letter from the Equity union, the new rules are described as a “towering hurdle” for the industry.

Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Julie Walters have joined some of the biggest names in British theatre to urge Boris Johnson to secure visa-free EU travel for artists.

Julie Walters among signatories to letter saying post-Brexit changes a ‘towering hurdle’ to working in Europe

'Things could get very very much worse before they get better'