Covid: Portsmouth Christmas panto season to resume in summer

More than 11,000 people had been booked to see the cancelled shows.

A theatre which had its Christmas pantomime season cut short by coronavirus restrictions has rescheduled the shows for the summer.

Kings Theatre, in Portsmouth, was forced to end its run of Dick Whittington on 18 December, when it still had more than three weeks to run.

More than 11,000 people had been booked to see the cancelled shows.

The theatre said the festive performances had now been rescheduled for July and August.

The pantomime had been due to run its socially-distanced shows from 8 December to 3 January but, when Portsmouth was moved into Tier 3 restrictions, the season was halted.

Theatre CEO Paul Woolf said: "It felt like unfinished business closing so abruptly and with over 11,000 people booked to see the show during the rest of the run.

"Putting the Panto back on really draws a line under what we have all been through in the last year."

The theatre said priority booking would be available to people who had previously bought tickets but missed out.

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