National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and Hampstead Theatre cancel shows given new lockdown

Chichester Festival Theatre has postponed its production of Benefactors, which was set to open in February and star Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner.

After its Chichester run the piece was scheduled to head to Bath, Cambridge, Canterbury, Salford and Cheltenham.

Executive and artistic directors Kathy Bourne and Daniel Evans said: "We are bitterly disappointed by the postponement of Benefactors, which promised to be an outstanding revival of a play which would have been a real tonic for audiences around England. With the new lockdown, it's become clear that it's simply not possible to mount a touring theatre show over the next few months."

"We are now focusing all our energies on planning for Festival 2021, which will open in April, and we look forward to sharing what's in store for our audiences this Spring in due course."

Elsewhere, Hampstead Theatre has completely pulled remaining performances of The Dumb Waiter on similar grounds.

The National Theatre has also cancelled all remaining live performances of its in-the-round pantomime Dick Whittington. The venue says it is "devastated" by the news.

We're incredibly sad to be cancelling all remaining live performances of Dick Whittington.

Huge thanks to everyone involved in creating and staging our panto.

You can stream Dick Whittington worldwide on National Theatre at Home from Mon 11 Jan for 6 weeks only. pic.twitter.com/jlLjntTqPX