Trinity’s Samuel Beckett Theatre will no longer be used for the Dublin Theatre Festival, a college official has confirmed.
In an email to The University Times, Samuel Beckett Theatre Manager Tim Scott said that the “Theatre Festival informed us of their intention not to proceed with the booking this morning”.
“Bookings ordinarily take a little while to sort out, but have required much more discussion during the crisis”, he said.
In a set of safety plans published last week by the School of Creative Arts, it was revealed that the Samuel Beckett Theatre was preparing to open to the public during the festival, which was set to take place between September 24th and October 11th. The festival will now be launching this week.
“The Festival’s decision reflects the position that they find themselves in, and not the suitability or otherwise of our plans for reopening”, Scott said.
“The Beckett Theatre was preparing to reopen for the Dublin Theatre Festival – subject to the approval of our Events Management Strategy by the Phased Resumption Group – but will instead reopen for the next scheduled event.”
Last week, all of Trinity’s schools published their safety plans for reopening.
A number of Schools have decided to ban staff and students who break coronavirus rules from entering School buildings for as long as a month and face coverings have been made mandatory for staff and students while moving around public spaces.
Visitors to the Book of Kells – which reopened last week – are also required to wear face masks and will be refused entry if they do not comply.
In an email statement to The University Times, Thomas Deane, a Trinity media relations officer, said that the exhibition will be open “in a strictly controlled manner that abides by all prevailing COVID-19-related safety guidelines”.
“Visitors will enter through the Nassau St entrance, follow a one-way system around Fellows Square, and then exit through Nassau St, with campus security monitoring the system to ensure visitors do not access other areas of campus”, he added.
