LONDON UPDATE: Performances of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Cancelled, Statements Released from SOLT and Nimax

Photo - Chris Edwards / BBC on Twitter

Performances of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time have been cancelled on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st December. Customers should contact their point of purchase to arrange exchanges or refunds. The National Theatre and Apollo Theatre will advertise details regarding the future status of performances once this is known.

In order to help audiences, ticket holders can come to the Industry-run ticket booth TKTS in the clock tower at Leicester Square this weekend, and can choose another show for free on presentation of their ticket for tonight or Saturdays' performances of The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time."

Apollo Theatre owners Nimax released a statement saying: "This is a shocking and upsetting incident. Our thoughts are with the audience and staff who were in the theatre and their families.We're very grateful to the emergency services for their tremendous work and to our staff who helped with the evacuation."

The Society of London Theatre said: "On behalf of London's theatre industry, our thoughts and sympathies go out to everyone who was injured and affected by last night's incident at the Apollo Theatre.

"We would like to praise the emergency services for their calm and rapid response and all the theatre staff on Shaftesbury Avenue for their professional and compassionate handling of the situation.

"The exact cause of the incident is still being investigated and the theatre owners, Nimax, are working closely with the relevant authorities to establish exactly what happened.

"Our theatres entertain over 32,000 people in central London every night and all theatres take the safety of their audience, performers and staff very seriously. Every theatre undergoes rigorous safety checks and inspections by independent experts, and incidents like last night are extremely rare.

"At a meeting today all the major theatre owners have confirmed that their safety inspections and certificates are up to date, and will co-operate fully with the authorities to reassure the public that their theatres are safe. All other London theatres remain open for business today and in the coming weeks."