Omicron in Scotland: Fife theatre scraps rest of panto schedule
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The Byre Theatre in St Andrews said it took the move “with deep regret” to halt its 2021 show Jack And The Beanstalk from today.
It also postponed planned festive screenings of It’s A Wonderful Life.
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Hide AdThe panto opened on December 2 and was scheduled to run until Hogmanay.
Now the venue has begun the task of issuing thousands of refunds.
The Byre, which is run by the University of St Andrews, is believed to be the first venue in Scotland to re-think its festive show plans since the First Minister’s stark warning of a “tsunami” of Omicron variant cases, which sparked major cancellations of Christmas parties
A statement posted online said: “In light of the current, rapidly evolving situation regarding the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the University of St Andrews has made the difficult decision to cancel all performances and public events due to take place at The Byre Theatre from Saturday, December 11.
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Hide Ad“This is one of a number of steps we are taking to minimise the spread of the virus and keep our local community safe.”The Byre will be closed to the public this weekend, but on Monday, its Living Room will remain open with reduced hours - but this may change at short notice.
The theatre said: “If you have booked for performances and events due to take place from December 11, we will refund the full cost of your ticket(s) to the card you originally booked on.
“If you paid by cash, a member of staff will be in touch with you by phone to make arrangements for your refund. “But it stressed: ”This involves thousands of transactions, so please be patient with us. We will process your refund as soon as we possibly can.”
The university “sincerely apologised for the disappointment and inconvenience that this will cause but hope that you will understand these exceptional circumstances, and that our priority, and that of the university, is the safety of our audiences.”