The Abbey Theatre and Gaiety Theatre have announced new performance schedules to take account of the latest Covid restrictions.
It follows the Government announcement yesterday that indoor events must not take place after 8pm and that attendance is limited to 50% of capacity or 1,000 people, whichever is lower.
Matinees of Faith Healer at the Abbey have now been moved to midday and the 7.30pm evening performances have been moved to 5pm.
The times of other shows have also been moved and ticket holders will be notified.
In a post on social media, co-directors of the theatre Catriona McLaughlin and Mark O'Brien said: "We have worked with our staff and artists to safely keep theatre on our stages for audiences, as we believe live art is essential for well-being and central to our humanity."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The Gaiety announced changes for performances of the Little Mermaid panto.
It said that from Monday the evening shows will start at 5pm, matinees at midday, while morning shows will remain at 11am.
Meanwhile, ministers are this weekend discussing an enhanced Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) for businesses affected by the latest restrictions.
An announcement on that is expected on Monday.
Following latest restrictions, Gaiety Panto show times from 20th Dec are as follows:
— The Gaiety Theatre (@gaiety_theatre) December 18, 2021
ALL evening shows start @ 5pm
ALL matinee shows start @ 12 noon
ALL morning shows remain @ 11am
Please note ALL boxes of After Eights will be confiscated & given to our fab staff 😉#GaietyPanto
For live performances and panto, the Minister for Culture Catherine Martin has amended the terms of the most recent schemes to support performances in December and January.
The main change to the LPSS2 and LPSS3 scheme is an increase in reimbursable eligible production costs to 100% net of box office or other revenue streams.
In addition, the minister has removed the €10,000 cost threshold to be eligible for LPSS3, which opens for application on Monday.
Ms Martin will meet representatives of the live entertainment and events sectors on Monday.
Additional reporting Sandra Hurley
