Edinburgh Lyceum forced to delay season opener starring Doctor Who favourite, due to Covid outbreak

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The play by Zinnie Harris, which tells the story of a wife who decides to take her husband hostage to finally have an honest conversation with him, was due to begin previews later this week with its opening night taking place on March 1.

The piece will now be pushed back a week as revealed in a statement from the company, which read, 'Unfortunately, the cast and company have been affected by COVID-19 and so the show has been postponed, with the rescheduled opening from Tuesday 8 March, previews on the evening of the 5th and 7th March.'

​Written and directed by Harris, stars Maureen Beattie, ​Saskia Ashdown,​ ​Leah Byrne, Peter Forbes and Neve McIntosh​, best know to TV audiences as the reptilian Madame Vastra in Doctor Who and Kate Kilmuir in series four of Shetland.

Described as 'a​ dark, funny and timely play about truth, lies, and how we tell them​,' The Scent of Roses ​was due to open on February ​25 but will now open a week later on March 8, running until​ March ​19.​

Everyone with tickets for the cancelled week have been contacted by the theatre and invited to attend on another date.

​Looking forward to bringing her new work to the Grindlay Street stage, Harris said​, "​It’s brilliant to be bringing a new piece of work to a live audience. During the last year, I have been thinking a lot about truth and it feels like this is the time for a play that explores that, in both public and private contexts.​"​What is happening to our internal compass when we are constantly surrounded by mistruths, bending of facts, spinning of stories and fake news? Have we lost sight of truth in the 21st century, and what happens to our ability to listen when the whole story is difficult to hear?

“The play is a response to all of this, set around a couple who have been hiding from each other for years.”

The Scent of Roses ​will ​run​ Tuesday to Saturdays at 7.30p, with matinees ​at 2.30pm every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday​. ​

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