The following statement has been issued today by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) on behalf of the major commercial West End theatre operators and the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), to provide clear information for theatre customers in light of Monday’s shutdown, and help ease the unprecedented strain on box offices and ticket agents.
The theatre industry is lobbying government for a clearer time frame on closures and extending the legal refund window, and urging credit card companies to look at their automatic charge-back processes during this time period.
‘We are so sorry that in these testing and difficult times you are not able to enjoy the show you have booked for. We are cancelling all performances until 26 April 2020, whilst we wait for further clarity from the government.
There is nothing that you need to do if your performance has been cancelled.
If you have booked directly with the theatre or show website for an affected performance, please be assured that they will contact you directly to arrange an exchange for a later date, credit note or refund.
As you can imagine, we have an unprecedented number of ticket orders which we are processing in strict date order of performance. We ask for your patience and understanding as the current circumstances means that it is impossible to process all tickets within our usual 14 days.
If you have booked via a ticket agent, they will also be in contact with you directly.
Please do not contact your credit card company as that will slow the process down and put an additional burden on our box office and ticket agent teams.
In order for us to serve our audiences the best we can, please do not get in touch with your point of sale if you have booked for performances after 26 April but please be reassured that if we have to cancel future performances you will be directly contacted by your theatre or ticket provider. We will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.
We look forward to welcoming you back into our theatres as soon as we are allowed to resume performances. In the meantime stay safe and healthy.’
By now everyone reading this will have been affected by our virus and will be facing anxiety-educing financial uncertainty and huge logistical issues simply getting from day to day. The problems and feelings of theatre makers are an irrelevant drop in the ocean of this huge crisis.