Coronavirus: Empassioned plea from the men who rescued Peterborough theatre

David Hutchinson and Phillip Rowntree, founders and directors of Selladoor- which took over the operation of the theatre just last September and staged smash hit shows such as Avenue Q, Madagascar, Fame, Joseph and Cabaret - said they have been “overwhelmed by the support, love and generosity” from the Peterborough community.

However, they said their decision to close the beloved theatre following the Government’s recent announcements on Coronavirus - currently until April 17 at the earliest - was “nothing short of devastating” for the business.

But they remained defiant, adding: The phrase ‘The Show Must Go On’ is often overused in the theatre community, as we are a resilient industry and have overcome many obstacles in good and bad times. However never have we needed our audiences more than we do now. We will be closed for a while – but we appeal to you on a personal level to support your theatre – and look at supporting events coming up in the Summer and Autumn – and continue to buy tickets and love your local theatre, as we do.”

In a statement to the Peterborough Telegraph today, David and Phillip said: “We realise that this (the closure) will cause significant disruption, but the wellbeing of our customers, staff and communities must be our priority. We hope to reschedule as many events as we can, and are working through the options available during this very busy period.

“The closure of this theatre, only six months after we took the keys and started building the exciting next stage in the journey of the New Theatre, is nothing short of devastating for our business. With a month of no income – and potentially longer if the Covid-19 outbreak continues to lock down public spaces - it is very difficult for a theatre that relies on the important relationship with the local community and their support for all of our programmes,

events and spaces to keep running.

“The coming weeks are going to put huge pressure on our business as we continue to sustain our overheads, staff and costs without any income.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support, love and generosity we have received from the community in Peterborough, who have made clear how important the New Theatre is as a vital part of the community. With this in mind, and the unprecedented challenges this beloved theatre now faces during this pandemic – we ask that patrons consider donating the cost of their ticket to the theatre, to allow us to continue to sustain operations and to bring top quality shows to the New Theatre. We will issue a credit note to patrons who decide to leave their ticket money in the box office for future events at the theatre.

In the case of events being rescheduled, we can of course immediately transfer your tickets to the new performance and look forward to welcoming you to the theatre at a later date. Of course if none of the above options are suitable for you, we will be organising full refunds.

“We appreciate that many of our customers will have questions about bookings and we kindly ask that you please bear with us whilst we work through all of our scheduled performances.

As we get through the immediate demands of rescheduling or cancelling events, we will then focus on what we can do as a business to reach out to those in the community who may be isolated and in risk of loneliness. Theatre has a social responsibility to continue to connect with our communities, and be inclusive of all our local patrons. We are modeling some ideas around live streaming performances, and offering a weekly theatre forum for members of the

community to connect with our team at the New Theatre, many of whom are now working remotely.

“We thank you for your support and wish strong health to everyone.”