Northern Ireland

Theatre-goers return to auditoriums for the first time in 16 months

Theatre-goers in Northern Ireland finally got to see the `show go on' this week when auditoriums reopened following 16 months of closure due to the Covid-10 pandemic. Curtains went up at The Lyric Theatre on Tuesday night for a production of Dracula. Picture by Hugh Russell
Theatre-goers in Northern Ireland finally got to see the `show go on' this week when auditoriums reopened following 16 months of closure due to the Covid-10 pandemic. Curtains went up at The Lyric Theatre on Tuesday night for a production of Dracula. Theatre-goers in Northern Ireland finally got to see the `show go on' this week when auditoriums reopened following 16 months of closure due to the Covid-10 pandemic. Curtains went up at The Lyric Theatre on Tuesday night for a production of Dracula. Picture by Hugh Russell

THEATRE-goers in Northern Ireland have returned to auditoriums for the first time in 16 months.

Curtains were raised after the Executive agreed this week that theatres and concert venues could reopen from 6pm on Tuesday.

And, among the first ticket-holders to take their seats were 140 people who gathered at The Lyric Theatre in Stranmillis to see Dracula last night.

Produced by the Lyric Drama Studio, the play - about solicitor, Jonathan Harker who visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house only for him to make horrifying discoveries in his client’s castle - is directed by Philip Crawford.

Jimmy Fay, executive producer, said the theatre was "delighted to safely welcome audiences back".

"The team have been working with dedication behind the scenes for months to allow our doors to open with the highest safety guidelines in place throughout the theatre," he said.

"Opening with this Drama Studio production of Dracula on our main stage is immensely fitting as it highlights the Lyric’s aim to nurture and raise young talent in Northern Ireland.

"To watch these young people engage imaginatively in a story that has its roots in a real virus from the 19th century and has been transformed into a world-wide creative phenomenon by the brilliant imagination of an Irish writer, gives one hope."