Show must go on for Stourbridge theatre group after 'crushing' problem

Luckily nobody was hurt but the group have had to shelve rehearsals and cordon off the space, in the former St John's Church in the town centre.

Work to repair the roof will start on Monday but is expected to take at least three weeks.

They are now going to record part of the production using skills learned in the digital media class which meets every Friday and distribute it to friends, family and people who would have come to watch the concert.

Mark Williams, who runs the class and has worked with students for a number of years, said what could have been a disaster has seen the whole group come together in adversity and work the problem through to a solution.

He said: "The students learn digital media skills from production to editing to podcasting so this is a good way of putting them to use and saving all the hard work that has gone into the Christmas production, it will just be done in a different way by making a film.

"We always have fun whilst learning which is one of the aims of the Side Show group as a whole and already rehearsals and plans are under way for the concert to be recorded, which is one of the things we teach on a Friday morning."

Side by Side was founded by Susan Wallin MBE over 25 years ago and moved to the venue in 2020, transforming it by installing a new kitchen, toilets, office and renovating the performance space which used to be the main part of the church.

She runs it alongside trustee and her husband Derek Liddington, a former project engineer who has been partly responsible for much of the work that has gone on since they moved to the building, next to Stourbridge Ring Road.

He said: "It was out of the blue, we weren't expecting any issues with the roof, there were no issues or cracks in it but we were in the office when we heard a large bang which we thought was an accident on the ring road.

"But it was a large piece of plaster which had exploded all over the performing space and the first thing we had to do was make it safe and cordon the area off, and then install safety netting as a precaution should anything happen in the future.

"We decided pretty soon we had to cancel the Christmas concert because it wouldn't be safe for the public to come in but at least we have managed to find some contractors who can do the work and hopefully we will be up and running for the 2025 programme."

Susan said: "The digital media class are going to film parts of what would have been the concert so whilst the performers won't be performing in front of an audience in a large auditorium, they will still be able to do their parts as planned.

"They are actually very excited about it and it is a perfect example of the group coming together, using skills they have learned or are learning and working with the other students.

"We teach many aspects of the performing arts in the classes here, from drama to dance music and mime and of course now digital media which is becoming ever more important and in this case means the Christmas concert or part of it can go ahead, just in a different form."