I T HAS has turned out to be a bridge too far for York Theatre Royal.

Artistic director Damian Cruden had been due to direct Arthur Miller’s 1955 American drama A View From The Bridge for a main-house run from February 13 to 28 next year, but the needs of the archaeological excavation work under the stage before the Theatre Royal’s £4.1 million redevelopment has led to the decision to cancel the repertory production.

Next March, the theatre will close for eight months for the entire front-of-house areas to be refurbished with new catering and café facilities, a re-configured auditorium and state-of-the art modula stage.

“It has been necessary in the last few weeks to reassess the timescale for closure to allow time for the archaeological excavation,” says Damian.

“Looking at the season of work running up to the closure of the building, there’s only one show that we can pull in order to complete the capital redevelopment on time.

“We have had to think very carefully about our capacity as an organisation to fulfil the redevelopment and have taken the difficult decision to cancel A View From The Bridge.

“This minimises the risk of not being back open on schedule in late 2015 and will allow four weeks in February from the end of pantomime to allow archaeological investigation on the site to take place.”

Damian says the Theatre Royal will fulfil its obligation to other companies booked to perform there before the building’s temporary closure in mid-March.

“The only way for us to free up time ahead of closure is to cancel one of our own productions,” he adds.

“The closure period is very time sensitive and the management of this by the senior team here alongside our architects and partners in the project is key to the success of the wider project, creating a fantastic new theatre for the citizens of York.”

Looking ahead, Damian says: “A View From The Bridge is something I am keen to direct in the future and we will consider how it might fit into our future programme.

“We do apologise for any disappointment caused at this time.”

Tickets for Damian’s production went on sale only recently.

“The theatre will be contacting anyone who had booked a ticket to offer a refund.

“By making this decision now, we will disappoint a fewer number of bookers,” he says.

“The theatre plans to hold open days before closure in March so that our supporters are able to look at any work taking place and take a tour of the theatre in its current configuration.

“We will be releasing more details for open days soon.”