THE Edinburgh Festival was last night dealt a savage blow when it was
announced that one of its major venues had been put out of commission by
a suspected fire-raising attack.
Official Festival productions by the Canadian Opera Company, Welsh
National Opera, and the Mark Morris Dance Company, which were due to
have been staged at Edinburgh's Playhouse Theatre have been cancelled.
Edinburgh University last night offered to step into the breach by
offering its McEwan Hall as a possible Festival venue.
Also hit as a result of yesterday's early morning fire is a special
VIP Gala performance on Saturday night. Starring singer Michael Ball, it
was to have marked the official reopening of the Greenside Place
building after a #2.2m facelift.
The owners of the theatre, Oxford-based Apollo Leisure UK Ltd, last
night described it as a tragic incident and said because of the fire,
which began around 5.20am, it would be impossible to go ahead with the
reopening.
Announcing also the cancellation of the Festival events and a new
reopening date of September 16, the owners said that the damage caused
by the blaze had affected the back-stage dressing rooms and scene dock,
and resulted in considerable smoke damage to the auditorium.
A senior officer with Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade said: ''We are
treating it as wilful fire-raising.''
Contractors, who had been expecting to finish work this week, have now
been called back to work on an emergency programme to ensure the
building -- undergoing a restoration programme totalling #4m -- is
completed for the first preview performance of the musical Les
Miserables on September 16.
Festival organisers are expected to make an announcement shortly, but
said last night they were still hoping to rescue the events they had
scheduled for the Playhouse.
The university's McEwan Hall can seat 2000, but other commitments
would rule out its use during the early days of the Festival.
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