The Flags – postponed

Royal Court Liverpool has postponed this week’s performances of comedy play The Flags as it carries out emergency work to the stage.

Performances planned for Monday 1 June to Thursday 4 June have been cancelled and the show will re-open as normal on Friday 5 June.

In a statement released today, Kevin Fearon, chief executive of Royal Court Liverpool, said: “The set for the show consists of 11 tonnes of sand and 8 tonnes of rocks and there are concerns about the strength of the stage beneath.

“The production team performed a series of rigorous health and safety checks on the staging before the set came in but after the first three performances the production team, in conjunction with the health and safety officer, were concerned about the possibility of the stage not being able to withstand the weight for the full four week run.

“We do not take the decision to cancel shows lightly but, having tested the stage underneath the set, we found that we will need to undertake some re-strengthening work. This will require the full set to be taken out and then rebuilt and our production team will be working round the clock to make sure that we are back up by Friday. We apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused to our audience but we do not want to risk the safety of our actors and on stage team and also the long term health of the building.”

Royal Court Liverpool has said if anyone has tickets for shows this week they will be contacted today (1 June) but if people have tickets for Monday to Thursday this week and haven’t heard from the theatre then they should contact the theatre’s Box Office on 0870 787 1866.