Toronto theatre cancels performance on Friday after security incident

A Toronto theatre production is back up and running on Saturday after being forced to cancel a production and call the police on Friday night.

Mirvish Productions tweeted on Friday evening to say a performance of the play Indecent had been cancelled after “an intruder broke into the CAA Theatre.”

John Karastamatis, Mirvish’s director of sales and marketing, told Global News someone had “snuck past” Mirvish security and allegedly entered both the locker room and the auditorium of the CAA Theatre.

Mirvish Productions called Toronto police to report the incident between 4 and 5 p.m., calling again around 7 p.m. after officers failed to arrive, Karastamatis said.

He said police arrived at the theatre around 8:40 p.m. to conduct an investigation, by which point the evening performance had been cancelled.

He said equipment was also damaged during the incident and could not be adequately repaired in time for the show.

A spokesperson for Toronto police confirmed they had received calls from the location but offered few details.

“There was no break and enter at the location,” they told Global News. “There was a theft of a backpack around 5 p.m. and a found property call at 7 p.m.”

“You will have to inquire with them on why they cancelled their productions and suspected damaged property,” the spokesperson said.

“It unsettled everybody … especially the actors,” Karastamatis said.

With the greenlight from police that there was no broader threat to public safety and the theatre’s 400 or so patrons, Indecent is up and running again.

Mirvish has increased security at its premises following the incident.