Electric fault threatens my neighbour Totoro
Electric issues threatened the Barbican Centre’s My Neighbour Totoro, according to a City of London Corporation Committee.
The problems at the central London theatre threatened the performance weeks before the hit show was due to begin in October.
To protect the Studio Ghibli adaptation, the Barbican spent £100,000 on a generator, a report said.
The show broke Barbican box office records When tickets were first put on sale.
The committee found that the Barbican’s electrical infrastructure was at “end of life”. A September performance was halted by electrical problems. This happened because heavy lifting equipment, which is used to transport large items, stopped working.
The stage adaptation of My Neighbour Tortoro, a collaboration between executive producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company, has run for 13 weeks and it is set to finish at the end of the month.
Claire Spencer, Barbican Centre CEO on Monday, stated that “this is the most unusual, and unsatisfactory, situation that we find ourself in.”
“Without the dedication and diligence of the engineering staff, we would have lost this show.”
To get to the bottom and make sure that the Studio Ghibli adaptation can continue, surveys were conducted before the new year.
One member of the committee said that “We are suffering from severe (electrical) failures. [in the theatre] However, it is possible to do so in other parts of the building.
According to a City of London Corporation report, the issue was: “There have been many incidents of high voltages. However, there is no pattern or regularity that allows us to predict low- or high-risk times and to identify the cause.
“There is currently a three-phase plan. An interim short-term solution has been created that eliminates the possibility of an interruption or failure which could prevent Totoro from performing.
“The current show will be followed by the next phased work at the end January.”
Follow BBC London Facebook, Twitter Instagram. Send us your story ideas [email protected]