A DUBLIN PANTO production at the National Stadium has said it has to halt its run of Aladdin due to a close contact among the production team, and “growing concerns” from families about the high Covid cases.

The production of Aladdin at the National Stadium in Dublin, presented by Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick had been running from 9 December and was due to run until 2 January.

The production has asked the public to be patient as the box office contacts them “in the coming days” regarding their bookings.

Alan Hughes told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland today that “we gave it our best shot and it just wasn’t to be this year”.

We had a close contact, with the old rules of five days we could go again, but new rules came in that if you weren’t boosted, you had to restrict your movements for 10 days. We had to listen to families who were calling the box office with growing concerns.

He said that when the Government is warning that there could be record case numbers this week, and that they had to listen to that warning.

In a statement released yesterday, the production said the run would not continue due to “further Covid-19 complications”, and apologised for the inconvenience.

“We are absolutely devastated to have to say that due to further Covid-19 complications, Aladdin at The National Stadium, is unable to continue this year’s run.

“We apologise wholeheartedly for any inconvenience and upset as we understand just how much our panto means to our loyal audience. We have tried everything in our power to keep going but we now accept that this is impossible.

“We are heartbroken as our cast and crew are eager to deliver our fabulous show to all our panto fans. We have a duty of care to our cast, crew and of course you, our loyal audience, that we take very seriously. Please know this was not an easy decision and is beyond our control.

We appreciate your continued support and we say ‘tanx a thousand’ and Happy Christmas.

On Monday, new Covid-19 restrictions came in, resulting in an 8pm closing time for pubs restaurants, and entertainment events. New stricter rules on close contacts also came into force. 

Earlier this week, Dublin’s Olympia Theatre announced that its pantomime would no longer go ahead as scheduled due to Covid-19 complications.

In a joint statement from panto organisers released at the beginning of the month, they stated that Pantos provide “significant employment for up to 1,000 professional artists, creatives and production crews” each year.

“In an average year, the Panto season is responsible for selling in excess of 310,000 tickets to patrons all over the country, bringing in approximately €9.8 million in revenue.”