Playhouse Curtain snag

Sep 5 2021 | By More

Venue delays reopening as Safety Curtain snags

The Safety Curtain failed to rise at the Edinburgh Playhouse today, Sunday 5 September, for what should have been the venue’s first show for 536 days since going dark due to Covid.

The failure gave the venue only three and half hours to postpone its reopening shows: two all-but sold-out performances of Chris and Rosie Ramsey’s Shagged, Married and Annoyed Podcast. They will now play on Sunday 5th December 2021 at 3pm and 8pm.

Edinburgh Playhouse Auditorium will now remain empty until September 14. Pic: Rob McDougall

The Playhouse announced on Twitter at 11.26am that it had been forced to cancel the performances “due to unforeseen technical problems”. The first show had been due to take place at 3pm.

Further details on Facebook revealed that during the usual pre-show safety checks on Sunday morning, the safety curtain at the front of the stage had failed and could not be raised to allow space for the performance to go ahead.

The safety curtain, which has to be “raised and lowered in the presence of the audience” is flown down in front of the venue’s plush red curtains. The fire-proof metal sheet is a fail-safe mechanism, intended to fall into place in case of a fire.

The Playhouse statement continues: “We haven’t had any problems with the safety curtain until this point and called in engineers straight away who despite their best efforts have been unable to fix this. We have therefore had to make the difficult decision to cancel today’s shows to ensure the safety of our performers.

“We are extremely sorry and apologise for the inconvenience and disappointment this will cause and have tried to let our customers know as soon as possible not only here but by email and text and asked ticket agents Ticketmaster and See Tickets to do the same.”

reschedule the shows

The good news for ticket holders is that the Ramseys have been able to reschedule the shows to a later date in their tour in December. The rest of the tour, including the date at the Glasgow King’s on September 27, is unaffected.

Rosie and Chris Ramsey will now be playing thePlayhouse in December 2021

The Ramseys said: “We’re so gutted and we can’t apologise enough”, confirming details of the postponement in their own statement:

“We are absolutely devastated that both shows in Edinburgh today have been cancelled.

“It is completely out of our hands, we only found out this morning ourselves, having travelled here yesterday. So sorry to anyone else who has travelled to see us.

“The iron curtain on the stage at the venue is broken and can’t be lifted up, so it’s impossible for either show to go ahead.

“We’re so sorry. The good news is we have managed to reschedule the date to the 5th of December 2021, we hope you can join us then.”

The Playhouse has said it is contacting all ticket holders by text and email. Tickets can be re-allocated to the new dates or holders can apply for a refund.

The cancellation means that the Playhouse will now reopen with 9 to 5 The Musical on Tuesday 14 September, when it will have been dark for 545 days.

ENDS

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