Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
The West End may come to an abrupt halt, as trade union Equity are planning a strike.
The union have put in a 17% pay rise request to the Society of London Theatre, as well as an additional 10% in the second year.
The strike is set to take place around Easter if no agreement has been reached.
The Society of London Theatre said: “As we enter this year’s negotiations, we are keen to build on our already constructive relationship with Equity to achieve a sustainable outcome”.
Other requests include a five-day rehearsal week compared to the current six days and an additional six days of holiday entitlement.
All of this comes after Equity announced that two-thirds of members considered leaving the industry in the past three years as the current pay does not cover living expenses. More than half of performers in the West End receive the existing union-agreed minimum wage of £629 per week.
Crazy News
Tuesday’s FA Cup match at Molineux between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool was a strange one.
Just 30 seconds into the match, all lighting cut out (apart from the pitch side advertising boards), which also knocked out the VAR system, but before the match, sexual noises were heard during BBC’s Match of the Day studio scenes. Gary Lineker done well to keep a straight face during the incident.
YouTube prankster Daniel (Jarvo) Jarvis was behind the sabotage as it was triggered through an old mobile phone.
The BBC have since promised to investigate and determine how it ended up in the studio in the first place.
The score ended 1-0 to Liverpool who advanced to the next round.
Happy News
The world’s rarest chimpanzee species has had a boost to its population after Chester Zoo welcomed a baby to the troop.
Chester Zoo says the birth was a “small but vital boost” to the global population, which in the wild was “under huge threat”.
The zoo has a tradition of naming new-borns after rock or pop stars, so only time will tell what this baby boy will be called.
Mum ZeeZee and the baby have bonded well and is fully part of the troop.
