THEATR Clwyd has made the decision to cancel its pantomime after Christmas Day due to the new Covid rules announced on Wednesday.

First Minister Mark Drakeford told a Welsh Government briefing that a new raft of Alert Level Two measures for hospitality businesses, cinemas, theatres and public gatherings would be introduced.

They will come into force from 6am on Boxing Day.

 

New rules for Wales.

New rules for Wales.

 

Mr Drakeford said: “A general requirement of two-metre social distancing in all premises open to the public and workplaces, where reasonable.

“The rule of six will apply to gatherings in regulated premises, such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres.

This means it is not practical for the theatre to continue with the run of its Beauty and the Beast panto after this date.

The Mold theatre posted: "Sadly, due to the recent announcement introducing social distancing to help reduce the spread of Covid and the Omicron variant we have been forced to cancel the following upcoming events: Beauty & The Beast from 25 Dec

"We’re very sorry for the disappointment, this is an incredibly busy time for the theatre and with such a huge number of people to get in touch with we’re asking your patience while we process all bookings. There is no need to contact our box office – please bear with us, we'll be in touch as soon as we can.

"Thank you for your continued support and love for the arts."

The theatre added that it was in an impossible position.

A statement on its website added: "Moving from a sold out performance to one where barely a quarter of those booked would be able to watch leaves us in an impossible position. We also, of course, put our audiences, acting company and team’s safety above all.

"With that in mind we’re absolutely devastated that we’ll no longer be able to share these shows, all of which we’ve worked so hard to bring to our amazing and loyal audiences. These closures have arrived at a time when we and the rest of the creative industries were starting to get back on our feet following the distruption of the last 20 months and their impact will be devastating for all of us – our audiences, our actors, creatives and backstage teams, our community companies and our staff. The thing that’s keeping us going right now are the heartwarming messages of support and solidarity that we’ve already received and we know that together we will get through this.

"We’ll be getting in touch with everyone affected to share our next steps. We will, as always, offer audiences the options of a full refund, tickets on credit with the theatre to use in the future, or making a donation.

"This is an incredibly busy time for the theatre and with such a huge number of people to get in touch with we’re asking your patience while we process all bookings. There is no need to contact our box office – please bear with us, we'll be in touch as soon as we can.

"Thank you for your continued support and love for the arts."

There is no need to contact our box office - we’ll get in touch with you to sort exchanges and refunds – as soon as possible after we’re informed of a programme change. Please bear with us, we'll be in touch with everyone as soon as we can.