Hits from the West End a number of productions, including The Lion King and Life of Pi, have been forced to cancel performances owing to Covid-19 outbreaks

The Lion King cancelled performances on Tuesday and Wednesday owing to “Covid-enforced absenteeism” among the cast and staff. Life of Pi at Wyndham’s Theatre has cancelled five performances from December 9 to December 13.

Due to Covid cases, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Comedy of Errors at the Barbican in London has likewise cancelled all the performances until December 22nd.

The National Theatre had to postpone Monday’s preview of its Christmas musical Hex when one of its star performers became ill with Covid. The press night for the Sleeping Beauty-inspired performance has been moved from Wednesday to December 21.

The Rhythmics, a new musical at London’s Southwark Playhouse, has ended.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Wembley Park’s Troubadour theatre has been forced to postpone performances until Friday, while the capital’s Donmar Warehouse has also been impacted. Force Majeure performances were cancelled from Monday through Thursday owing to Covid-19 instances in the group.

The adaption of Ruben Ostlund’s dark cinematic comedy stars Rory Kinnear. Due to the pandemic, the production, like many others, has already been rescheduled until 2020.

The performance of the critically regarded Fair Play at London’s Bush Theatre was also cancelled on Monday, although it is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

Moulin Rouge at London’s Piccadilly Theatre reopened on Monday following a 10-day Covid hiatus.

Some pantomimes have been affected as well. The Brighton Centre’s Aladdin, starring Anita Dobson, has been delayed until 2022 owing to “uncertainty and danger surrounding the Omicron form of Covid-19.”

The Chrysalis Theatre in Milton Keynes said it had made the “extremely painful choice” not to stage Peter Pan after junior cast members became infected with the illness.

Meanwhile, performances of Beauty and the Beast have been halted at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre since December 8 and are not expected to resume until December 18 at the earliest.

The Big Pembrokeshire Panto’s Jack and the Beanstalk has also been cancelled, which was set to star The Only Way Is Essex’s, James Argent.

Rapunzel at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge has also been cut short, while Jack and the Beanstalk at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews, Scotland, has been cancelled.