Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud theatre to welcome audiences back in June
"We're a theatre, we don't work without an audience so we're desperate to get the audience back."
After being forced to close for months due to lockdown, the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford is getting ready to open its doors again this summer.
Rehearsels are underway for its first production this year in June - Siobhan Basset's The Hound of the Baskervilles (3 to 12 June), a new comedy by Sara Crowe, directed by Joanna Read and designed by Neil Irish.
The theatre will be welcoming audiences back with safety measures in place to allow for social distancing, after theatres around the country are allowed to open in May.
Government regulations mean it can accommodate less than half of its audience capacity, with people being seated in their bubbles.
Director and Chief executive Joanna Read has told us staff are looking forward to seeing audiences again:
"It has been terrific to have a date to aim towards, to know that we have a plan, because for the last 12 months like so many people it's been planning month to month...so it's been very uplifting to have that.
"We're a theatre, we don't work without an audience so we're desperate to get the audience back."
She said families are encouraged to attend - especially as fewer might be going away on holiday this year:
"We think as people might not be going away, perhaps they will need things for kids to do over the summer, so we're programming a lot of work for young people and children.
"We really want to see you back in the theatre again, it's a safe place to be as anywhere and we know we can guarantee you a good time."
Shows on the summer programme include:
The Hound of the Baskervilles (3 to 12 June).
Original Theatre Company's new political drama A Splinter of Ice (15 to 19 June)
Alan Ayckbourn's comic masterpiece Absurd Person Singular (6 to 10 July)
Susan Hill's ghost story The Woman in Black (12 to 17 July)
The Donmar Warehouse's socially-distanced sound installation Blindness (21 to 26 June).
Family shows include:
CBeebies' Sarah and Duck (21 July)
Tall Stories' adaptation of Julia Donaldson's The Snail and the Whale (3 and 4 August)
An interactive treasure hunt experience This Noisy Isle (6 and 7 August)
As well as performances on the Main Stage, the Riverside Garden will once again be open for a series of outdoor performances, including folk music from Devon-based musicians Jacob and Drinkwater (20 June), and contemporary duo India Electric Co. (8 August).