Theatre Group Persists Despite Christmas Concert Cancellation Due to Ceiling Collapse

An ensemble of actors with learning disabilities has pledged to continue spreading festive cheer, even after their Christmas concert was cancelled. The Side By Side Theatre, situated in Stourbridge’s former St John’s Church, had been preparing for a week of performances since autumn. However, a 15kg (33lbs) section of the building’s ceiling collapsed, which eliminated the company’s possibility of performing in their venue. Group member James Emtage stated, “It’s not going to be what we hoped for but we’re not giving up.” Susan Wallin, who is the group’s artist director and founder, described the damage that occurred on 27 September as “shocking”. She recounted, “We were in the office and suddenly heard an enormous bang. I rushed outside because I thought it was a car crash. We’re just thankful it didn’t fall on anyone.” The building itself dates back to 1860 and was established as the theatre group’s headquarters in 2019. Now in its 27th year, the company has a history of performances in locations such as Sweden, Prague, the Edinburgh Fringe, and with the Royal Shakespeare’s Open Stages. Efforts to locate an alternative venue for their Christmas performance have been unsuccessful, as no suitable space meeting the group’s requirements could be secured. Consequently, the concert will be filmed; however, actor Laura Southall noted that rehearsing in a corridor proved to be “difficult” and “quite cramped”. Fellow performer Claire Atwood expressed her disappointment, stating: “I was really gutted because all my friends and family can’t come and see it, I’ve been looking forward to the concert for ages.” Ms Wallin commented that a “real performance with real people can’t be replaced”. Nevertheless, Mr Emtage affirmed: “We’re still going to put on a performance.” The company had finished a significant refurbishment of the church, transforming it into a performance area, just three weeks prior to the ceiling collapse incident. A contractor for the repairs was only secured at the end of November, which meant the space would not be prepared in time for the scheduled concert. Trustee Derek Liddington remarked: “For this to happen when we’d gone through the summer decorating and having no holidays, it was disappointing.” He further added: “We are used to coping with adversity in Side By Side so we try to find the positives and that’s what we’ve had to do here.” Information from BBC Birmingham is available on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. This content is copyrighted by BBC 2024, with all rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external sites and provides information regarding its approach to external linking.