Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Festive magic continues in Elgin with socially distanced Christmas show

Performers prepare for That's the Spirit at Elgin Town Hall.
Performers prepare for That's the Spirit at Elgin Town Hall.

Stage performers in Moray are preparing to step into the spotlight for a sparkling socially distanced Christmas show.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the traditional run of pantomimes and festive performances to be cancelled across most of the country.

However, the Lossie Entertainment Academy has managed to ensure the show will go on for their annual Elgin musical extravaganza.

The 37-strong cast will be socially distanced through the entire Christmas show, which will be performed to a reduced audience of 100.

And the plot of the production, That’s the Spirit, has even been devised to make the separation of the performers part of the magic as Elves work to banish “2020 vision” so everyone can follow the star to find the gift of the present.

Writer Tish Tindall said: “We’re using the stage but also the floor to ensure it’s totally safe for our ensemble and rock band.

“Up and down the country so many people are not being given the chance to perform at all this year, so we feel really privileged we can go ahead with something. Not everyone is getting this opportunity, so we’re really fortunate.

“We’re a performing arts college so live performances are what really help our students the most – we’re all terribly excited because it’s been such a difficult year.

“The entire cast will be socially distanced through the show. We’re fortunate there’s a few siblings in the cast who are from the same household, but apart from that everyone will be distances.

“The show’s all about trying to bring people back into the spirit of Christmas, not about the here and now but what’s happening in the future.”

Yesterday performers continued to practise their lines and moves ahead of the opening night for the socially-distanced Christmas show on Friday.

Dancers lined up on the floor while the band performed on stage to prevent the two groups mixing due to coronavirus rules.

Elgin Town Hall regularly plays host to a large line-up of amateur dramatic festive shows throughout December.

However, this year Lossie Entertainment Academy is one of the few to be able to go ahead while other groups have cancelled due to the pandemic.

Elgin Town Hall.

Producer Diane Aspinall explained the Lossiemouth-based organisers were committed to ensuring the show went on for the performing arts college.

She said: “We had no choice. We had to find a new way to entertain our audiences – a socially distanced way.”

Ms Tindall added: “We needed to create something that would captivate audiences immediately, something that would help them escape from the reality that they are wearing a mask.”

That’s the Spirit will be performed daily at Elgin Town Hall from Friday until Thursday, December 24 with extra matinee performances at the weekend and on Christmas Eve.

Tickets £10 per person, available to buy online at www.lossieentertainmentacademy.co.uk

Audience members attending have been asked to wear a face covering.