YORK’S Grand Opera House will finally reopen its doors next month - almost 18 months after it was shut by the pandemic in March last year.

The theatre in Cumberland Street will welcome audiences back for Susan Hill’s thriller, The Woman in Black, on Monday September 13, which will run for a week.

“We are delighted to be counting down to our re-opening and welcoming our audiences back to enjoy the magic of theatre once more,” said a spokeswoman.

“It’s been a long time and we have all missed this wonderful venue. It’s good to be back.”

PW Productions said it was ‘thrilled’ that, following a sell-out run in Charleston, South Carolina, The Woman in Black was returning to stages across the UK, adhering to all necessary Covid-19 regulations.

“Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel tells the story of a lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a ‘Woman in Black’,” said a spokesperson.

The play begins a busy autumn season at the Grand Opera House which will end with a new panto, Dick Turpin Rides Again, which was postponed from last Christmas because of the pandemic but is now set to run from December 11 to January 9.

The spokesperson said York panto legend Berwick Kaler, who starred for decades in pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, will be dusting off his frocks and making his much-anticipated, triumphant return to star in the show.

“The star of pantomime in York for 40 years, Berwick’s critically acclaimed performance as dame has solidified his reputation as a true York institution, having delighted generations of festive theatregoers every year,” they said.

“Dick Turpin Rides Again reunites Berwick with his band of pantomime favourites, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper, AJ Powell and David Leonard in a production packed full of madcap comedy, spectacular song and dance, and a Wagon Wheel or two!”

Other autumn highlights at the Grand Opera House include shows by comedians Jimmy Carr, Nina Conti and David Baddiel and comedy The Show That Goes Wrong.