New Vic Theatre to welcome audience back for first 'opening night' of the year
It's as businesses across Staffordshire and Cheshire prepare to reopen indoors from Monday
Last updated 14th May 2021
Businesses across Staffordshire and Cheshire are putting the final preparations in place ahead of reopening indoors again on Monday.
Pubs and restaurants are getting ready to welcome customers back inside - and theatres are counting down to what will be the first opening night of the year.
Theresa Heskins is the Artistic Director at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. She said:
"We're so pleased to hear that that bit of the roadmap is being met. That means that our plans to open on Monday with 'Third Time Lucky Eric' will be able to go ahead.
"Before the pandemic, the Arts were the country's fastest growing industry, and it also feels really important that we can start getting back to our full productivity.
"Places like this are so important for people's health and wellbeing - the kind of work that we do with people with dementia, for example, who experience isolation all the time, but particularly this year, it's really fantastic and important that we can start to welcome people back to the building.
"I'm really confident that this is a good time and a really good time for us to start to be able to enjoy our social lives again"
Theresa added: "Theatres all over the country have worked really hard to make it a safe environment, and we've had support and great advice in how to do that.
"We want people to have a brilliant time. We want them to feel relaxed and like they're being well looked after. Our staff and people will be wearing masks and there are a few more entrances too.
"Some of those productions that we were making, like Marvellous, the amazing story of Neil Baldwin, we've been desperate to get that show on stage! And I'm so excited that we will finally now be able to schedule a date for it.
"I always say to actors who haven't performed in here before: by the end of the first performance, you'll realise the audience is just giving you a great big hug - and that's how it feels. And they always come offstage saying you know what, that was exactly right! That metaphorical hug is one that we're really looking forward to sharing again, with audiences - we just can't wait.
"Thank you to everybody who has borne with us over this difficult year and a bit - it's tremendous to feel the level of support and goodwill that there is towards the New Vic and we're really glad that we'll be able to start paying that back now."