Pateley Bridge is to offer some covid-safe outdoor theatre this month by staging Halloween ghost walks.
Actors from Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society will guide the audience through the Nidderdale town while telling haunted tales.
The walks will take place on October 30 and 31. Starting times will be staggered from 6pm to 8pm.
To comply with coronavirus regulations, each walk will be limited to five people.
Ruth Dodsworth, president of the society, which usually performs at the town’s Playhouse theatre, said:
“We have a proud history of innovation at the Playhouse and wanted to keep theatre alive in the safest way possible, while offering an original and dramatic experience.
“Ghost walks over Halloween weekend seemed a perfect way to do that.”
Complying with social distancing is difficult at the Playhouse, which will remain closed until at least the end of the year.
Tickets can be booked from Friday, October 23 here.
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Pateley Bridge Playhouse loses year’s worth of funds
The Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society has been hit hard financially by coronavirus – but the voluntary group remains hopeful for the future.
The amateur theatre company based in the Pateley Bridge Playhouse is set to miss out on a whole year’s revenue with the majority of funding coming from ticket sales and membership fees. The playhouse costs around £8,000 a year to run.
Inside the Pateley Bridge Playhouse
The president of the society, Ruth Dodsworth, told The Stray Ferret that it is a “very strange time”. She said:
“We are all volunteers and it is something we enjoy as a hobby. We get great support from the locals and it would be an awful shame to lose it.
It provides not only entertainment but it’s a great vehicle for everybody to socialise – it’s a companionship being involved in something like this.”
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Pateley Bridge Playhouse can seat 73 audience members, but with current social distancing measures the playhouse may only be able to seat a maximum of 12 people.
Since finishing the pantomime in February, the dramatic society has had to suspend all future performances with no set date to reopen. The company is eagerly awaiting government guidance on when it might be able to get back on the stage.