Serious Questions raised over DRIVEINSIDE at the Trafford Centre

Questions are being asked by ticket holders tonight as to what is happening with DRIVEINSIDE at The Trafford Centre, as days after the original advertised opening, and on the eve of the first rescheduled event there remains no sign of what is promoted as the biggest marquee tent in Europe arriving at the centre’s car park.

DRIVEINSIDE is advertised by Beyond Theatre Ltd and posted an “11^th hour” update on the 13^th May, the day of the first scheduled performance of ‘Manchester’s Git Talent’ which read as follows.

Since then postings on Facebook and Twitter have led us and ticket holders to believe preparations were ongoing to mount shows in the ‘tent’ from tomorrow, 19^th May. As of 2pm today there was no sign of the tent being in place at the Trafford Centre, and a call put into customer services at the centre from North West End UK was met by the comment ‘we do not know what is happening with these events, we would expect the marquee to be in place now ahead of tomorrow’s proposed first show.

We have also attempted to contact Beyond Theatre via telephone and social media on numerous occasions this week to no avail.

As we write this article Theatreland due to perform at DRIVEINSIDE on Saturday 22^nd May have withdrawn from the event and switched their performance to the Theatre Royal in St Helens stating,

“Producer of the show, Adam Curtis, says that his company has been left with no alternative but to withdraw Theatreland from the planned drive-in theatre at the Trafford Centre. “We have been liaising with the venue organisers, Beyond Theatre Limited, this week,” says Adam.   

“Our concerns regarding delivery of the venue infrastructure by them within a timescale capable of satisfying the requirements of the production mean that we have no other choice but to withdraw the performance. To continue would have jeopardised the quality of the show we would have been able to present.   

“This has been through no fault of our own.”

Postponement was not an option, says Adam. “The cast and technical team assembled for this one-off production would be unable to fulfil a postponed performance because of their work schedules,” he says. “We would advise ticket purchasers to obtain a refund from their point of purchase,” says Adam. 

North West End UK will continue to monitor this event and make daily checks on the validity and integrity of this event. Tickets are still available online for ALL productions from tomorrow despite no infrastructure being in place for it to take place. We strongly advise all potential audience members to AVOID booking for any DRIVEINSIDE events until clarity is made on this event.

Tickets for Theatreland at St Helens Theatre Royal performance will be available priced £15 plus booking fee from www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com 01744 756000. Unfortunately, as the show producers and not the DRIVEINSIDE event organisers, we have no access to the DRIVEINSIDE Theatre box office.