Sad news for the Bristol show (Ben Hur)

Sadly, we have had to take the heartbreaking decision this afternoon to cancel the show at St Thomas The Martyr, Bristol on Saturday. 

For those who had booked, refunds will be processed via Ticketsource within the next 24 hours, and free complimentary access provided in due course to our streamed performance and exclusive related content online via the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well by way of apology. If you purchased a ticket, please check your emails for communications via Ticketsource, and nearer the time of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, an email providing you with a free direct link to viewing the show streamed online.  We really hope you will join us for the streaming version (which has already been filmed and is currently being prepared by our lovely Sophie Rogers). 

If you miss any communications, please drop us a line on [email protected] to sort things out. 

The reason is simple, a lack of ticket sales, in the post-pandemic world. 
Breaking even is an optional luxury, and that's certainly not the cause of the decision, but the reality is that we had five advance ticket sales, and when that is compared to over £300 venue hire, plus almost £800 to hire a minibus to travel to Bristol, several hours travel for the cast and crew, we had to decide that even making a big loss to get our wonderful actors showcased and to a good performance opportunity, was simply not viable, for an audience of five. 
With that number of advance sales, we decided we could not rely on ticket sales on the door on the evening, and have therefore made the choice to cancel this show. 

We definitely hope to bring theatre back to Bristol in the future - previous shows we have brought to the city before the pandemic, have been instant sell-outs, but despite our usual advertising with radio, posters, mailshots, press, social media (free & paid), leaflets, linking to specialist interest organizations, and despite the support of the Bristol Equity (actors & creatives trade union) branch, and much more, we have been unable to reach audiences on this occasion.   We believe too, that packages of flyers and posters also went missing in the mail, as they were posted at the same time as the posters and flyers to other venues which we now know went missing (but it is early enough to rectify), which also contributed to this problem. 

Sporadic ticket sales is an increasingly common issue. Some of us work with local theatre venues here in Devon as well, and we are seeing this happen to various other shows and acts, even to a West End musical tour. It seems to be impossible to predict as to which shows or events this happens to, but seems to be a part of the post-pandemic landscape. 

We hope that you will keep in touch with us, and that you will come back to us in the future. 

​Laura Jury