Sheffield Theatres To Stream Panto As It Remains Under Tier 3 Restrictions

The Government has today confirmed that South Yorkshire will remain under Tier 3 restrictions and the Crucible must therefore remain closed. In response to this news, Sheffield Theatres has announced that Damian's Pop-Up Panto! will be available 'On Demand' through the Theatres' website from next week.

Responding to the news, Dan Bates, Chief Executive commented:

"As the saying goes, the show must go on! I'm delighted to say that we have filmed Damian's Pop-Up Panto! and we'll be sharing the show online from next week, so although we can't welcome audiences to the building, we'll still be offering some fun this festive season.

The panto will be available to watch from only £15 by booking through our Box Office. We hope that this will help allay the disappointment of the thousands of customers who were due to come and see the show over the coming weeks.

In addition, we can today announce that we'll be sharing the pantomime with our own Sheffield Children's hospital and nationally through the Starlight Children's Foundation to reach children across the UK who are staying in hospital over Christmas.

And finally, we're partnering with Learn Sheffield to offer the children and young people of the city region pantomime beamed into their classroom from 4 to 8 January.

We are devastated that we can't share the show with audiences in the Crucible, it would have been wonderful to welcome people back through our doors. However, we are thankful that we can share our panto online and I want to thank the whole company and the team at Sheffield Theatres for their hard work and determination in making this happen.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas and we look forward to 2021 and welcoming everyone back for a host of fantastic shows."

The development of the theatres' online streaming capability has been made possible thanks to a generous donation from Neil and Julie MacDonald who are long-time supporters of Sheffield Theatres' work. This donation helps the theatres to stream to schools, hospitals and the public for the pantomime as well as enabling longer term plans for streaming to become part of the theatres' programme.

Further details of Damian's Pop-Up Panto! On-Demand will be released early next week. In the meantime, the Box Office team will be in touch with customers who were due to see the show on stage, offering a refund or credit for a future performance.