St Albans entertainment venue The Alban Arena has closed its doors while the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Notices on the door of the civic centre venue detail cancelled and rescheduled shows.
It is not yet clear when the theatre will be allowed to reopen, and The Alban Arena has already had to cut staff temporarily during the current coronavirus crisis.
The Alban Arena team posted on the venue’s Facebook page: “Due to the current COVID-19 situation and Government advice requesting theatre-goers to refrain from attending productions, the majority of producers have now cancelled performances and bookings for the immediate short term future at both The Alban Arena and Harpenden Public Halls.
“We are working hard to reschedule bookings for future dates but with regret as a result of the current situation we are in the position where a number of performance-based employees have been laid off on a temporary basis until performances are able to return.
“We truly hope we are able to resume normal service as soon as possible and our team are able to return to work.
“Limited number of team members will remain on site to handle future bookings of shows through the normal channels.
“We shall be reviewing the situation on a daily basis and will update everyone accordingly as an when the position changes.”
Here is a list of rescheduled shows and their new dates:
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour – Monday 5 October
Sound of Springsteen – Friday 8 January 2021
Ian Ashpitel & Jonty Stephens as Eric & Ern – In the process of rescheduling
Renown & Talking Pictures TV – In the process of rescheduling
Sir Ranulph Fiennes – Thursday 4 February 2021
An Audience with Sir Geoff Hurst – Wednesday 3 February 2021
Abba Forever – Thursday 18 March 2021
Rumours of Fleetwood Mac – In the process of rescheduling
Jonathan Pie – In the process of rescheduling
Bootleg Beatles – Monday 19 April 2021
Motown: How Sweet It Is – Saturday 27 March 2021
Tiger Who Came To Tea – In the process of rescheduling
Illegal Eagles – Friday 23 April 2021
An Evening with Francis Rossi – Friday 2 April 2021
The Carpenters Story – Friday 19 March 2021
Tim Vine is Plastic Elvis – In the process of rescheduling,
Stevenage’s Gordon Craig Theatre has also had to closed.
After closing on Friday, the theatre in Lytton Way posted a poignant picture on Instagram of a darkened stage illuminated by a single ghost light.
The message read: “We may have closed our doors today, but we leave our ghost light centre stage so all performers, crew, front of house teams, touring productions and most importantly our patrons will find their way back home when the time is right.”
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