All Souls Dramatic Club in Southport have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel their next pantomime.
The group, famous for their eye-catching, brilliantly written and energetic productions featuring a local cast, were due to perform The Snow Queen at The Atkinson on Lord Street in January 2021.
But due to the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, All Souls has decided to postpone this year’s show – but vow to be back bigger and better in January 2022!
They said: “It may come as no surprise that, with an extremely heavy heart, we have decided to cancel our January 2021 pantomime.
“As restrictions are still quite tight around amateur theatre, many groups have taken a dynamic and reactive approach in order to maintain the longevity of their organisation.
“Under the current guidelines on the opening of theatres, All Souls Dramatic Club would stand to lose a disastrous amount of money if we aren’t able to sell a vast majority of tickets, something which is challenging due to social distancing measures that are understandably in place.
“As you can appreciate, our organisation only gets income from ticket sales which allows us to produce a pantomime each year, we are not funded, subsidised in any way and we are an organisation made up of talented people who volunteer their time completely freely.
“It has been a difficult time for all amateur groups and we can assure you that we have held off making this decision for as long as possible in hope that we could still bring the show to the stage. Unfortunately, we just can’t manage it this time.
“As a group, the company fully supports this course of action and the entire membership look forward to performing in Southport once again when these trying times have passed.
“All Souls Dramatic Club will return in January 2022 with a pantomime which will be even bigger and better than ever before and we are excited to welcome back our loyal fans and audience members in the future.
“We end every pantomime we do with ‘Good luck, good health and happiness. We’ll see you all next year’ and whilst this isn’t quite the case, we promise that we will be back with a bang in January 2022! Take care and see you soon.”
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