St Helens Theatre Royal to stage socially distanced Beauty and the Beast pantomime

St Helens Theatre Royal has made alternative arrangements to make sure the show goes on this Christmas.

The venue has decided that, rather than building and creating a new production of Cinderella, it will present Beauty And The Beast, adhering to social distancing measures for audience, staff and cast to make sure all feel safe.

According to the venue, "changes will include reduced capacity auditorium, temperature checks, wearing of face masks, deep cleaning and pre-order drinks and confectionary, to ensure the venue is Covid safe".

Last week Portsmouth Kings Theatre announced plans to go ahead with its panto, while a variety of venues have had to pull the plug on their festive shows with a lack of certainty around reopening dates.

The venue will be working throughout August to ensure all patrons that have pre-booked for Cinderella are rescheduled/re-seated before the new show goes on general sale.

Chantelle Nolan, theatre manager at St Helens Theatre Royal said: "This has been a very difficult decision to make, but we have to be guided by the government's rules at this time and we can't take the financial risk if we have to wait until November for a decision on whether we move away from socially distant shows, so changes have had to be made. We have now come up with an alternative Christmas show for St Helens, which will have all the high production values the customers have become used to, Beauty And The Beast has always been a firm St Helens favourite and we will ensure it's a fantastic, fully enjoyable, and a safe festive experience that the whole family can enjoy.

"I would also like to personally take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their continued support and loyalty through these very difficult times."

Dates and details for Beauty and the Beast are to be revealed.