The Abbey Theatre has joined a growing number of venues across the country to be awarded the See It Safely mark.

‘We are members of UK Theatre who, together with the Society of London Theatre, have launched this project. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, ensuring the safety of our staff and audiences,’ says Theatre Manager Tina Swain.

Theatres and performing arts venues across the UK are displaying the mark, which gives audiences the confidence to return to see live performances.

Tina adds: ‘Being granted this award is about more than our hygiene, risk assessments and social distancing measures being approved. We also promise to exchange tickets, subject to availability, up to 24 hours prior to a performance in the event of a member of a household feeling unwell.

‘But please be patient if you call or email to exchange tickets, as our opening hours are limited due to COVID restrictions.’

Staffing the box office is another challenge volunteers at the Abbey Theatre have had to overcome. The month-long lockdown prevented them from coming into the building, so a small team of operators has been handling customer calls from home.

Stuart Barry, who deals with the theatre’s IT, said: ‘Thank goodness we changed to a digital phone system at the end of August. This means that calls can be redirected to volunteers’ home phones and we can log in securely to our cloud-based box office system from our own computers.’

You can read more about the measures in place here.