More than 80 people were injured, four seriously, when close to 10 square yards of ceiling within the 775-capacity theatre collapsed, with masonry and timber falling on top of the audience. The staged production, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, had been underway for about 40 minutes when it was halted amid the fallen debris and dust. That production has relocated.
The theatre is set to open this week with the screening of a vampire movie, Let the Right One In. Local authorities say that while their investigation has pinpointed the failure of the ceiling’s “wadding ties” led to the collapse, their investigation is continuing.
The collapse also prompted authorities to issue guidelines to owners and operators of other historic venues in the hopes that similar collapses do not recur elsewhere.
