Curtain up at York Theatre Royal: ‘We’re giddy, we’re excited, we’re a little bit nervous’

The Theatre Royal will reopen to indoor performances this evening.

It’s first show – Love Bites – is sold out, which is a very good sign. There are lots of safety measures in place, including socially distanced seating – you can read all the details here.

Chief executive of York Theatre Royal Tom Bird told Ben and Laura on YorkMix Radio how he felt as curtain up finally approached.

“It’s quite emotional, to be honest. We’re giddy, we’re so excited. We’re a little bit nervous.

“In a way, it’s emotional. You never think in your career you’ll have to do what we had to do 14 months ago, and say we’re pulling everyone off stage, and you might not be back in for a while.

“It’s been tough on everyone. It’s been really tough on theatres, because it was immediately clear that lockdowns and the restrictions were going to be difficult for us, but we’re just over over the moon to be back.

“And we just can’t wait for tonight.”

For the comeback, they decided to commission works from “as many artists in York as we possibly could.

“So we went out with this call for love letters to the theatre, or to your partner, or to absolutely anything you want. And said write us a five minute love letter in any format.

“And we’ve commissioned 22 artists in York to come up with love letters for our night tonight, which is Love Bites.”

You can read all about York Theatre Royal’s new season – featuring Ralph Fiennes, Brian Clough, trapeze artists and a brief history of drag – here.