Coronavirus causes Peterborough theatre and council meeting closures

New Theatre Peterborough in Broadway has announced this evening that it is cancelling all events and performances for the next four weeks after new government guidance was issued advising people to avoid non-essential social gatherings.

Theatre operators Selladoor said the venue will be completely closed for at least the next fortnight.

It said: “We realise this will cause significant disruption, but the wellbeing of our customers, staff and communities must be our priority.

“We appreciate that many of our customers will have questions about bookings and refunds. We would ask that you please bear with us whilst we reschedule performances where possible.”

Among the shows to be postponed is Billionaire Boys, an adaptation of a story by David Walliams, which was due to open next week.

Peterborough City Council this evening also announced it was cancelling all public meetings.

The announcement came shortly before tonight’s scheduled Constitution and Ethics Committee meeting.

Peterborough Cathedral, meanwhile, has confirmed that its after hours photography masterclass scheduled for April 4 has been postponed.

A cathedral spokesman said: “The tutor, Adrian Stone, has advised that the handling and demonstration of equipment is an integral part of the event, and it would therefore be inappropriate to carry on in the light of the current health emergency.

“We plan to reschedule the event later in the year and will let you know when a date is confirmed.”

And Peterborough Mask Theatre wrote: “Based on the most recent government guidelines we have taken the difficult and sad decision to postpone the CUBED festival.

“The Prime Minister has announced that people should avoid gathering in large groups to help prevent and delay the spread of the coronavirus. His statement extended to pubs, clubs and theatres. In light of this statement we have decided it would not be right to continue with the festival and put the health of our audiences, actors and crew at risk.

“If you have booked tickets the Eastern Angles box office will be in touch with you over the coming days. The festival is being postponed and not cancelled, so you will be given the option to move your ticket to a future date. Everyone that has booked will be contacted, but we have a reasonable number of bookings to process so please bear with us as we work our way through.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. We are hugely disappointed to be postponing at this stage but we know it’s the right thing to do. We’re really looking forward to the time when we can announce that CUBED festival is back up and running and we hope that you’ll join us then to experience these wonderful plays.”

The latest coronavirus articles can be read at: https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/health/coronavirus.

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