Pantos are Christmas tradition that have been performed for hundreds of years and bring in millions of pounds to theatres across the UK.
On 27 May, the Tron Theatre, Glasgow was the first to officially announce that the venue will not have a pantomime this season, opting to reschedule 2020’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to 2021.
Since then, many others have been cancelled because of coronavirus. But it is likely that they will all be cancelled.
The Industry has today reached its self-imposed crossroads—the deadline set by many pantomime companies to decide whether to go ahead or cancel.
The statement of Qdos, world's biggest pantomime producer, released today says: “..the Government won’t provide further guidance on theatres operating without social distancing until November at the earliest; we are left with no choice but to begin the consultation process with our partner theatres about the viability of each show”.