Cock Tavern Cancels Show Due to Licence Issues

The local council have advised resident theatre company Good Night Out Presents – who have operated the theatre for over two years – that the venue is licensed for entertainment on the ground floor, but not on the first floor where the auditorium is located.

The Cock Tavern have released a statement saying that the new had come as a “huge shock” given their previously “excellent relationships with the local council”.

They continued: “We are already in negotiations and doing our best to acquire a ‘temporary events notice’ while a full entertainment license is processed. This is a huge disruption to our audiences, our casts and production teams and we are working very closely with the pub and the council to ensure that the show will go on.”

Artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher and his team appear hopeful that the situation will be resolved quickly with a temporary notice, however as he confirmed to The Stage, a new entertainment licence could take up to a month to obtain.

The Cock Tavern was the original home of OperaUpClose’s production of La Boheme which subsequently transferred to the Soho Theatre and was the surprise winner of this year’s Olivier Award for Best New Opera.

Also currently playing at the Cock Tavern, Rob Hayes‘ A Butcher Of Distinction opened at the Cock Tavern last night (6 April, previews from 3 April) its run now disrupted by the licensing issues. That production, like A Cavalier for Milady, runs until 23 April 2011.