ALL REMAINING PERFORMANCES of this year’s pantomime at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin have been cancelled, the theatre announced this afternoon. 

The shows have been cancelled due to Covid-related absences within the production and rising case numbers across the country, the Gaiety said on Twitter. 

The show had been running since 28 November and was due to continue until 9 January. Yesterday, the theatre cancelled performances for today as a result of Covid absences.

Other pantomimes have run into difficulty over the festive period.

The Aladdin pantomime at the National Stadium was halted earlier this week due to a close contact among the production team and “growing concerns” from families about the high Covid cases.

The production of Aladdin, presented by Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick, had been running from 9 December and was scheduled to last until 2 January.

Dublin’s Olympia Theatre also recently announced that its pantomime would not go ahead as scheduled due to Covid-19 complications. 

Earlier this month, Arts and Tourism minister Catherine Martin announced details of a €50 million support package for the live performance sector after 50% capacity limits were re-introduced for indoor events.

This included a €3 million boost in funding for the seasonal musical theatre and pantomime strand of the Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS).