Abbey Theatre due to close for 9 weeks after asbestos discovery.

Words: Caroline Foran

This just in: The national theatre, that's The Abbey Theatre for those of you who don't know, is due to close for 9 weeks after a worrying case of asbestos was discovered in the building. Oh dear!

However, those working at the theatre ensure that there is no danger whatsoever to staff or the public. Oh, that's good. Still, it has decided, just in case, to remove the asbestos in the interests of long-term safety.

Bloody sure they did!

Don't panic theatre fans of Ireland, those of you with tickets to see Alice in Funderland this weekend won't be disappointed, the theatre will be closed from 17 July to 15 September, so a while off yet. Unfortunately though, performances of the The Plough and the Stars will be moved to the nearby O'Reilly Theatre at Belvedere College.

As per various reports, the asbestos was stumbled upon during an inspection of the building as far back as January. Since then, weekly air quality tests have been carried out by specialists since and thankfully there is no need for staff to worry about being affected by this discovery.

Even though all is OK, The Abbey says that because theatre can involve a lot of technical work, when you consider all the lighting and staging and whatnot, and because staff may have to work in the areas involved - it has decided to remove the asbestos. I don't know about you but I would not be happy about working in those conditions.

Nevertheless, the Box Office and other parts of the theatre are open for business as usual throughout this period so you can still plan your theatre going as normal. The Abbey's main auditorium will re-open in mid-September.

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Wednesday 9th May 2012 | Theatre

328

Comments

• No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!

Log in to leave a comment

Login or register to leave a comment

Enter your email:

Enter Password: Lost Your Password?