Postponed - Venues around the country have reported postponed shows and damage to property following violent riots. Sunderland Empire was forced to postpone two nights of performances following riots in the city, which also saw nearby venue the Fire Station report damage to its premises.
Elsewhere, a children’s dance performance at the Regent Theatre in Stock-on-Trent was cancelled, after the ATG-owned venue went into lockdown because of nearby violence and Theatre Royal Plymouth cancelled a performance of The Devil Wears Prada musical on 5 August.
Fringe Matters - Edinburgh city centre was affected by a widespread power outage that wreaked havoc on the first day of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The outage caused disruption at several venues, including Pleasance Dome, Gilded Balloon Patter House, Assembly George Square Studios and Bedlam Theatre.
Udderbelly, Underbelly’s large, upside-down, inflatable purple cow in George Square Gardens, deflated due to its air pumps lacking power. Comedy Galahad Takes A Bath at ZOO Southside continued using electric candles, while comedian Ollie Horn and a cappella group The Oxford Alternotives performed on the street outside their venues instead. Power was restored after an hour, with festival operations returning to normal soon after.
Cinema Sale - A former cinema dating back to 1936 is back on the market after plans to turn it into a music venue failed to materialise. For sale signs have gone up on Stafford Cinema in recent weeks. The two-storey building had been put up for auction in 2022 after the cinema finally closed in 2021 – 85 years after it first opened as an Odeon. In late 2022, it was announced that the site was going to be brought back to life as a live entertainment venue, but the plan never came to fruition. Stafford used to be home to a number of cinemas. The Picture House became a Wetherspoons, while the Albert Hall site became part of the Co-op department store.
(Jim Evans)
6 August 2024
