Delay to lifting Covid restrictions won’t stop town’s theatres and venues!

FROME’S theatres and venues have said that they are “disappointed” by another delay to the return of full capacity events – but remain determined to “raise the curtain” on a host of socially distanced performances for audiences to enjoy. 

Following the recent announcement that current Covid restrictions will continue until at least July 19th, the Cheese and Grain and Frome Memorial Theatre have been forced to postpone or cancel a number of full capacity events, while the Merlin Theatre has said the delay is ‘devastating’. But all three still have events planned.

The Cheese and Grain and Memorial have said they are working behind the scenes to bring socially distanced performances to fill the void until full capacity shows can return. 

And at the Merlin Theatre – who took a “cautious approach” to their event planning, scheduling summer shows at half-capacity – it’s full steam ahead, with its full programme going ahead. 

The Memorial Theatre, which has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic last year, was set to open its doors for the first time this week with a Queen tribute concert – now rescheduled for October.  

However, the theatre will open its doors on Friday 9th July for the Frome Festival, with a socially-distanced show starring headliner, comedian Reginald D Hunter. And the theatre says it is also considering if it is “viable” to hold other socially distanced events ahead of Monday 19th July. 

A spokesperson said, “We at Frome Memorial Theatre are disappointed as we were so looking forward to welcoming back our audience after such a long time. Remaining closed will have a devastating effect on many entertainment venues, who, like us, will continue to run at a loss as income fails to cover the essential expenditure just to keep a venue safe and ready to reopen.” 

The Cheese and Grain  has been working hard to reschedule performances by Fatboy Slim, Frank Turner and Beth Orton – all of which were set to perform at the venue this week in what was described as “one of the biggest weeks” in its history. 

And Frome Festival headliners that were set to perform at the venue have also been affected by the delay – Aswad has been rescheduled for November; whilst the Lightning Seeds have been cancelled. 

The venue’s events team is working to book several special socially distanced events for the next four weeks. The Cheese and Grain’s popular Grain cafe & bar, and terrace area is also open as normal. Director of the Cheese and Grain, Steve Macarthur, has told Frome Times that, as throughout the Covid closures, customer loyalty and local supporters have seen the venue through difficult times. He said, “Hanging onto tickets for rescheduled shows has been the key factor. But just as important has been buying tickets for our late summer and autumn performances.”  

The Merlin Theatre has also praised the support of the Frome community. They said, “The incredible 2020 public donations of money, along with the job-retention furlough scheme, are why the theatre is still here today, so we set out a low-risk strategy to ensure the show will go on.  

“With Frome’s help, we have weathered the storm this far so we will continue ahead as planned – with three shows happening this week alone! 

“As some of our performances are now almost sold out (due to the half-capacity rule) it will be disappointing for audience members keen to buy tickets, but we urge Frome folk to please help us sell every single ticket we can. Each penny, each pound counts for this next month and we still have some tickets available for most events.  

“The majority of our shows will be held outside on the ECOS amphitheatre, so we are confident patrons and staff will feel safe.  

“In partnership with our friends and colleagues at Frome Festival we would like to remind everyone that there is a great programme all over town, with loads of open air events at the Silk Mill, Marston Lakes, in the park, in the town centre and indeed still lots indoors too.  

“Raise that curtain!  We are open!” 

The Merlin has described the delay to the lifting of restrictions as “devastating” and has raised questions about why the restrictions don’t apply to all public events. 

They said, “For the theatre, music and entertainment industry as a whole, the ‘delay’ announcement is very bad news and for many it will be devastating, meaning closures and cancellations.  

“Professionals are struggling to make sense of why these limits are still being applied to some public events and not others, so we remain hopeful that appeals to the government, being made by industry figures, will be heard.  

“Our hearts go out to all those affected, and we urge everyone to keep supporting the arts in any way that they can.” 

To find details about the Merlin Theatre’s full programme, which is now taking bookings into November, please go to: www.merlintheatre.co.uk   

For information and updates about the Memorial Theatre’s programme of shows, visit their website: www.fromememorialtheatre.org.uk 

And for details of future performances and events at the Cheese and Grain, visit the website: www.cheeseandgrain.com