St Albans Roman theatre's 'brilliant' first post-lockdown show

Emma Wright, right, said it was "lovely" to perform in front of a live audience again

An open air theatre - said to be the only one of its kind in the UK - has put on its first show following the easing of lockdown measures.

The open air Roman Theatre of Verulamium in St Albans, Hertfordshire, hosted its first show on Friday with socially-distanced seating.

The theatre was built in about AD140 and was refurbished in 2014.

Emma Wright said the opening show of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor was "brilliant".

She said she had not performed on stage since before Christmas and although she had been in a Zoom production of Twelfth Night over lockdown it was "lovely" to be back on stage.

Mrs Wright, who plays Alice Ford in the production, said: "Everyone in the cast was desperate to get back on stage.

"There was a real buzz of being there with other cast members and seeing the audience... it was wonderful."

Mrs Wright said everyone in the cast was "desperate" to get on stage again

To adhere to social distancing, the theatre restricted its capacity from 220 to 275, and no intervals took place to avoid queues for toilets.

The performance was put on by the Maltings Theatre as part of its open air festival festival that runs until 31 August.

Artistic director Adam Nichols said the group had been "quite instrumental" in the campaign to bring outdoor theatre back.

The ruins of the Roman Theatre were unearthed in 1847 and 1935, and in 2014 it was refurbished

The theatre is unique as it has a stage rather than an Amphitheatre.

The ruins were unearthed in 1847 and 1935, and in 2014 it was refurbished to include new steps, pathways and handrails with some disabled access. It has since become available to book for cultural entertainment.

Mr Nichols said ticket sales for the first performance had been "significantly stronger" than usual.

He said he believed the theatre industry could overcome issues brought on by coronavirus.

"Theatre has survived worse situations than this," he said.