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Theatre on the 'back foot financially' as roadworks scupper shows

BBC The Milenium Forum in Derry, seen from linenhall street. It has a number of promotional posters on the exterior walls. A few people walk past its front doorBBC
The 1,000-seat Millennium Forum will close for seven weeks later this year

The temporary closure of Londonderry's biggest entertainment venue to major productions puts it on the "back foot" financially, its chief executive has said.

The 1,000-seat Millennium Forum will close for seven weeks later this year to facilitate ongoing public realm works in Derry city centre.

The work will block the area used by large-scale productions to unload equipment and stage sets, meaning the theatre cannot put on shows or gigs between 27 June and 18 August.

Chief executive David McLaughlin said the theatre will have no income over the summer and has lost out on "a number of large-scale productions".

"It is going to cause us problems," he told a Derry City and Strabane Council committee on Tuesday.

"We don't know where we will stand from a profit and loss point of view.

"We have a wage bill, which across the year works out about £26,000 per week – for those six or seven weeks we won't have any income coming in, we need to try to balance that off."

Getty Images Van Morrison on stage. He is wearing a hat, a jacket and a patterned pink shirt. He is also wearing sunglasses and holding a microphone.Getty Images
Van Morrison has played the venue on a number of occasions

Mr McLaughlin said a number of shows had been interested in coming to Derry during the period of closure.

"You can look at what is going on in Belfast (over the summer) and see what might have been coming to the city," he said.

The theatre intends on continuing with its summer project programme, Mr McLaughlin said, during the temporary closure but would do "a lot of that within the community".

'Very disappointing'

A theatre stage with seats in front made of a light coloured wood. Balconies on wither side of the stage in the same wood.
The biggest theatre in Northern Ireland's north west, the Forum opened in 2001

The biggest theatre in Northern Ireland's north west, the Forum opened in 2001.

In the decades since Van Morrison, Joan Armatrading, Christy Moore and Jools Holland are among the international acts to grace its stage.

It is also a key venue for the annual City of Derry Jazz festival and Derry Feis.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Judith O'Hare of the Londonderry Musical Society said the summer closure is "very disappointing".

"It is a wonderful venue and we are very fortunate to have it here in the city. It is very disappointing for people who come, maybe on holidays or visiting, that there is no local entertainment," she said.

Work on Derry's £5m public realm scheme got under way last year and is due to continue for 18 months.