THIEVES were not Taking Sides when they spotted a banner promoting the next Company of Ten production on the railings outside Westminster Lodge – they stole the whole thing. The cast arriving at the Abbey Theatre on Sunday for the dress rehearsal of Takin

THIEVES were not Taking Sides when they spotted a banner promoting the next Company of Ten production on the railings outside Westminster Lodge - they stole the whole thing.

The cast arriving at the Abbey Theatre on Sunday for the dress rehearsal of Taking Sides to find a space where their banner should have been.

The ties had all been carefully severed and the banner, which is a metre wide and over four metres long, had completely vanished.

Said David Stone, who is in charge of publicity for the Company of Ten, said: "This is a mystery but someone must have wanted it very much to have taken it down so carefully. It cost over �100 and we really need it back."

Nevertheless the show will go on and Ronald Harwood's intense drama about Wilhelm Furtwangler, the greatest conductor of his generation, and his interrogation by an American major determined to discover what side he was on, opens at the Abbey Theatre on Friday and runs until January 30.

Tickets can be obtained by calling 01727 857861 or online at www.abbeytheatre.org.uk