Northampton's Deco Theatre keeping fingers crossed for a return to the stage in August

The Deco has announced new dates for 19 shows postponed by the Covid-19 shutdown.

Staff at the 900-seat Northampton theatre are still working on rearranging four more but promise nobody will lose their money for tickets already bought.

And fingers are firmly crossed they will be able to open the doors at the independent, family run venue again for Bob Marley tribute show, The Marley Experience, on August 22.

Peter Jones, for The Deco, said: "Our people have been working incredibly hard rescheduling shows and contacting people who already have tickets.

"For some shows it's been impossible to find new dates because they are been part of one-off touring productions. Others have had to go back 12 months because they are tours that happen every year.

See the full list of rearranged shows here"Some we're still in the process of finding new dates because the shows themselves are rearranging tours all over the country — the The Beach Boyz Tribute for example — and we have to wait for them to sort themselves out.

"We've rearranged the show Cockney Knees Up for early July but, more realistically, I think we're looking at August and we're keeping fingers crossed that can go ahead. .

"But we are asking people with tickets not to contact us. We will contact them and they have the choice whether to come on the new date or, if they can't make that date, they will get a full refund. Nobody will lose any money."

All events had to be postponed through to early July after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the country's theatres to shut down on March 20 in a bid to slow the spread of the deadly Covid-19 bug.

Four of the shows have had to be scrapped completely, including a visit by the Vienna Festival Ballet which was due to reach Northampton on May 16.

The Deco box office and website is open for new bookings with a deposit scheme aimed at helping out theatre-goers during difficult times.

Mr Jones added: "We know things are a bit tight for many of us at the moment, so to help, we’re offering a deposit scheme to all shows. You pay just 25 per cent when you book online for shows scheduled from August 1. The full payment will only be taken on July 1.

"The idea seems to have gone down well. We're all affected in some way so hopefully this is something we can do to help."