Contrary to speculation and thanks to the hard work and determination of the wonderful people at Storyhouse, we can confirm that this year’s original production, A Christmas Carol, is definitely taking place and will ensure that we can all still enjoy a traditional festive theatre visit.
Find out more from Storyhouse here …
Christmas to come early at Storyhouse as it announces A Christmas Carol, its “most joyous show ever” to add some much-needed cheer.
A Christmas Carol opens early November 2020 to a limited audience of 200 per show and increases run to cope with expected demand and help with its battle for survival.
Christmas is officially happening in Chester as Storyhouse launches its Christmas show A Christmas Carol. The producer, which sold over 5,000 tickets in the space of just two weeks for A Comedy of Errors at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in August, will be one of only a tiny handful of venues in the country running Christmas shows this year.
The show will play to around 200 per night around the theatre’s more intimate thrust stage – around 40% of normal capacity, to allow for social distancing. With only less than half the normal number of seats on sale, the venue is starting Christmas early to allow for the expected demand.
Storyhouse’s own Artistic Director Alex Clifton is both writing and directing the adaptation of Dickens’ best loved story: “It’s going to make you cry and giggle your heart out; it’s the ultimate tale of redemption and how Christmas can make us all realise what’s important to us – family and community, something we all need more than ever right now. It’s a tale for every generation and hopefully can give us all a joyful taste of our normal lives, as we spend Christmas together at Storyhouse.”
Storyhouse is currently the only major theatre in the region planning to stage a full–size Christmas show and is bucking the trend, which sees most UK theatres closed until at least the spring of next year. CEO Andrew Bentley is keen to point out that closure is not a choice that his organisation would be comfortable with: “This is about preserving jobs and serving our community, simple as that. Storyhouse was the country’s first theatre, first library and cinema to re-open, we’re doing that because we’re wanted and needed; we can’t expect our city to help us if we’re not prepared to go the distance.”
The much–loved venue’s battle for survival continues following a successful summer of open–air theatre and cinema as Andrew points out: “The prospect for the UK’s cultural venues is becoming worse since the summer, with venues opening dates getting pushed further and further back. We expect subsidies to become harder to find as government budgets are harder come by and at the moment 70% of UK theatres are still at risk of extinction beyond Christmas; the danger is they’ll be bailed out in the short term but find they have no audience left. We have had over 4,000 new members join us since the summer and we would urge everyone to help save Storyhouse by joining with us at Christmas, we’ll be repaying the love with a cracking family festive show.”
Storyhouse has been open safely since 4 July. Audiences are socially distanced and shows will have no interval to avoid a queue, and theatre audiences have the same experience the same as cinema-goers. None of the air in the theatre is re-circulated and the venue is cleaned between shows.
Find out more about A Christmas Carol here.
Priority Booking opens Friday 18 September*
General Sale from Monday 12 October
*Members get priority booking and 10% off tickets at Storyhouse, Moonlight Flicks, Moonlight Drive and Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre. £4 month, no commitment, no fees, free exchanges, instant access, up to two discounted tickets per show.
Chester is truly magical during the festive season, so bring the family to enjoy Christmas in Chester and although Christmas 2020 will certainly be different a warm welcome is guaranteed with plenty of Christmas cheer in all the restaurants you can visit before or after your theatre visit with lots of offers to make your Christmas pennies go further.