News: Northern Stage announces temporary suspension of performances

Northern Stage announces temporary suspension of performances

 

Following the latest government and Public Health England advice, and in line with the UK theatre industry, Northern Stage will temporarily suspend public performances until 20 April. The measures are designed to help keep people safe and minimise the spread of COVID-19.

 

Executive Director Kate Denby said, “This is an unprecedented situation, and a very difficult decision for us to have to make.  We are busily working with our producing partners and visiting companies to understand the impact on our programme and the many artists and organisations we make work with. Where possible we will try to reschedule work for later in the year. We are also reviewing the activity we deliver with our Young Company, community partners, and artists across the region, and re-imagining how we might deliver this over the coming weeks.  

 

“There is no doubt that COVID-19 will have a significant impact on Northern Stage, and on the many artists and organisations we work with each year.  Without people visiting us at Northern Stage, or buying tickets for our work, our income is severely impacted.  Northern Stage is a registered charity, but over 60% of our annual funding comes from earned income, like ticket sales. As we take decisions over the coming weeks we will be considering their impact on the many casual staff, freelancers, artists and small companies that we work with, and will try to ensure we act fairly, transparently and in the best interest of our whole sector.”

 

Customers who have tickets for performances up to and including 19 April will automatically receive an email or letter from Northern Stage offering to exchange their tickets for another event later in the year, receive a credit note or a full refund.  From 17 March, the Box Office will be open from 10am to 6pm for telephone enquiries only.  However, the box office will be exceptionally busy and customers are asked to bear with the team as they work through the refund process at this challenging time.

Kate adds, “We are creative, and resilient, and are already thinking up ways to continue to bring our audiences great stories and theatre over the coming weeks.  We'll be keeping in touch via our website and social media. Thank you to everyone who has sent kind messages over the last few hours; we are incredibly grateful for our brilliant staff, artists, and our incredibly generous audiences. We hope to see you all back at Northern Stage very soon.”

For the latest updates please visit www.northernstage.co.uk/news/coronavirus-update-northern-stage