Update on future events at Royal & Derngate and Northampton Filmhouse
Following the most current government advice, issued on Monday 16 March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to suspend all public performances, screenings and community activities at Royal & Derngate and Northampton Filmhouse until Sunday 10 May. Our building will not be open to the public during this time.
Our team are working incredibly hard with visiting promoters, producing partners and stakeholders to understand the impact on our programme and the many individuals and organisations we work with. It is a complex and fast moving situation, as you can imagine, but the safety of our audiences and the people we work with is our number one priority.
We will be in contact with all ticket holders directly to explain the position regarding their tickets.
Where possible we will try to reschedule postponed Royal & Derngate shows for later in the year and all tickets will automatically be valid for these future performances.
Customers who have tickets for a performance or Northampton Filmhouse screening that we are unable to reschedule will automatically be issued with a credit note/gift voucher to the value of the tickets purchased.
If customers are unable to attend on a rescheduled date or prefer a full refund, our Box Office will make the necessary arrangements. We will be regularly updating a newly created Coronavirus page on our website with details of all shows that fall into this time of closure.
Please do bear with us. Our Box Office team is brilliant and are working in very challenging circumstances. They have to go about this process systematically and as such it will potentially take a considerable amount of time to contact hundreds of customers.
We can’t tell you how grateful we are for all the support we’ve received from those who have reached out personally or shared messages of solidarity online in the last few days.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 will have a significant impact on Royal & Derngate and our industry more broadly. We are working tirelessly to minimise this impact, but the full path ahead is uncertain. If you are in a position to consider doing so, we are inviting customers to make a small donation or donate the value of their purchased tickets to the theatre, to help us through this difficult period. More than 85% of our income comes from ticket and bar sales and so securing this kind of support is an extremely important part of our ability, as a charity, to plan for the future. Customers can donate online or can advise a member of the Box Office team to change their credit to a donation when they are contacted about their tickets. We don’t underestimate the significant impact the current situation is having on all our customers so are grateful for all and any support received.
For information, beyond Northampton, all touring performances of our Made in Northampton co-productions of Alone in Berlin, The Last of the Pelican Daughters, Holes and Wuthering Heights will also cease until further notice.
Thanks for bearing with us. We can’t wait to throw open these doors again and start welcoming you all back to Royal & Derngate as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, do follow us online or via our social media platforms for updates.
Jo Gordon, Chief Executive & James Dacre, Artistic Director
Royal & Derngate