The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Boycie at the Broadway put back 11 months
TV star John Challis has postponed his one man show at the former Broadway Theatre for 11 months.
Only Fools and Boycie was due to run at the newly renamed Peterborough Theatre yesterday, but after being contacted by the Peterborough Telegraph a theatre spokesperson on Tuesday morning confirmed the show has been pushed back due to “circumstances beyond our control”.
Mr Challis, who played Boycie in the iconic sitcom Only Fools and Horses, is now scheduled to visit the city on October 23, 2019.
The comedy actor’s performance was one of very few to remain on the diary following the collapse of the theatre’s previous management company earlier this year.
The theatre in Broadway had been managed by Performance Art Ventures C.I.C (PAV), whose chief executive was Mark Ringer, when it ran into huge financial problems, with £68,000 owed in unpaid business rates to Pe- terborough City Council, and numerous customers left out of pocket due to shows being cancelled.
Promoters of shows which have performed at the theatre also alleged they had not been paid in full.
Since then, under its new management team of the Dawe Charitable Trust it has been renamed the Peterborough Theatre to “draw a line on its history”, with a new website also being launched.
Talks have also been ongoing with a national promoter who may take it over.
Promoting his show last month, Mr Challis had urged customersto“getbehindtheir local theatre and support it so that it remains open”.
Thirteen people who had bought tickets for the show when the theatre was under the management of PAV had been promised by the new management team their tickets would be honoured for the show.
The theatre spokesperson said that will remain the case despite the show now being rescheduled, and that all ticketholders have been contacted.
Mr Challis said on Tuesday: “We are delighted that the community has rallied to save the theatre and are looking forward to our rescheduled show in 2019.
“A tremendous amount of work has gone into keeping the theatre going and we can’t wait to return to Peterborough.”
One person due to attend the show was Brian Sampson who said he had bought four tickets at around £17 each,
He said he had contacted the theatre to check the show was still going ahead and claimed he was told it had been cancelled.
This was denied by Mr Challis’ promoter who declined to comment on why the show had been pushed back.