Theatre News

West End and UK Theatre venue performances cancelled due to coronavirus

West End and regional theatres have shut down from the evening of 16 March

Shaftesbury Avenue at dusk
Shaftesbury Avenue at dusk
© Garry Knight / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

West End shows have been cancelled until 26 April and regional shows cancelled "until further notice" in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus spread, it has been announced.

It comes as Boris Johnson advises against heading to theatres and moving away from the previous "containment" strategy. This involves a process of social distancing to prevent large groups of people from coming into contact with one another.

There is a list of cancelled West End shows below.

The SOLT statement as of 20 March

We are so sorry that in these testing and difficult times you are not able to enjoy the show you have booked for. We are cancelling all performances until 26 April 2020, whilst we wait for further clarity from the government.

There is nothing that you need to do if your performance has been cancelled.

If you have booked directly with the theatre or show website for an affected performance, please be assured that they will contact you directly to arrange an exchange for a later date, credit note or refund.

As you can imagine, we have an unprecedented number of ticket orders which we are processing in strict date order of performance. We ask for your patience and understanding as the current circumstances means that it is impossible to process all tickets within our usual 14 days.

If you have booked via a ticket agent, they will also be in contact with you directly.

Please do not contact your credit card company as that will slow the process down and put an additional burden on our box office and ticket agent teams.

In order for us to serve our audiences the best we can, please do not get in touch with your point of sale if you have booked for performances after 26 April but please be reassured that if we have to cancel future performances you will be directly contacted by your theatre or ticket provider. We will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.

We look forward to welcoming you back into our theatres as soon as we are allowed to resume performances. In the meantime stay safe and healthy.


The SOLT statement as of 16 March

The safety of our audience and workforce is paramount to us as we navigate this challenging time. We, therefore, regret to announce that as of this evening all SOLT and UK Theatre member venues will close this evening (including tonight's performances) in light of the most recent official government advice. They will remain closed until further notice and will re-open as soon as possible, following government recommendations.

If you have bought tickets to a show that has been cancelled, then you are entitled to a refund and your ticket provider will be in touch. Please bear with us during this time.

The magic of theatre lies in its live performances and it is not something that can be experienced in the same way remotely. Its ability to lift people and entertain people even in times of difficulty is unparalleled and so we are extremely grateful to all of our audiences, who have continued to support us for as long as they can. We can't wait to welcome our audiences back into the UK's theatres as soon as possible.

We would like to commend the dedicated hard work from everyone in theatres across London and the UK over the last few weeks to continue to entertain and delight people for as long as they safely could. There are over 290,000 individuals working in the theatre industry across the UK, and the closure of theatres and public venues will have a devastating impact.

At this time, we must come together to support each other. Theatre as an industry relies on its audiences entirely to exist. We will rely on you now more than ever.

Many theatres that have been forced to cancel performances are charitable enterprises and have reached out to their audiences and asked for their support by donating their tickets. While ticketholders are all entitled to a refund for cancelled performances, the financial toll that refunding these tickets will have on small, charitably funded theatres is vast. We urge anyone who can afford to donate the cost of their ticket to show their support for our industry by doing so.

If you're looking for ways to show your support to the theatre industry and all its hardworking professionals, please consider purchasing Theatre Tokens, which you can use once our theatres are back up and running. These can be used at over 260 venues across the country and have no expiration date.

Theatre fans and patrons are the lifeblood of our creative industry and we simply could not open our doors without you. We're extremely grateful for all the messages of support we have received so far, and we look forward to welcoming you back to come and support our theatres when they re-open.

We will remain in contact over the coming weeks and keep everyone up-to-date as the situation changes. In order to stay informed, safe and healthy, current NHS advice can be found here.

During this period, we as an industry want to play our part in supporting everyone in our communities and will also continue to look for ways to entertain and uplift people across the country, so please follow our social channels and stay in touch.

You can see our full list of venue closures here

And here's a list of UK Theatre organisations

You can see a list of the SOLT West End venues that have been on-going shows that have been cancelled:

Waitress the Musical – Adelphi
Tina – Aldwych
Kunene and the King – Ambassadors
Everybody's Talking About Jamie – Apollo
Wicked – Apollo Victoria
Various – Barbican
Matilda Cambridge
The Comedy about a Bank Robbery – Criterion
The Prince of Egypt – The Dominion
The Play That Goes Wrong – Duchess
Blithe Spirit – Duke of York's
The Woman in Black – Fortune
City of Angels – Garrick
The Upstart Crow – Gielgud
Uncle Vanya – Harold Pinter Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera – Her Majesty's
The Lion King – Lyceum
Thriller Live – Lyric
Various – National Theatre
Dear Evan Hansen – Noël Coward
Mamma Mia! – Novello
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace
Come From Away Phoenix
Pretty Woman – Piccadilly
The Seagull – Playhouse
Mary Poppins – Prince Edward
The Book of Mormon – Prince of Wales
Shoe Lady – Royal Court (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)
Various – Royal Opera House
Various – Sadler's Wells
9 to 5 the Musical – Savoy
& Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre
Various – Shakespeare's Globe
Les Misérables – Sondheim (formerly Queen's)
The Mousetrap – St Martin's
On Blueberry Hill – Trafalgar Studios 1
Endgame – The Old Vic
Only Fools and Horses the Musical – Theatre Royal Haymarket
Sleepless – Troubadour Wembley Park
Magic Goes Wrong – Vaudeville
Hamilton – Victoria Palace
Leopoldstadt – Wyndham's