The show is over for Cirque du soleil as lays off almost 4,000 staff

Cirque du Soleil has laid off almost its entire team of more than 4,000 performers and other staff due to a string of cancelled shows. 

The cull represents 95 per cent of the Canadian-based entertainment company’s staff, or everyone except a core support team to manage future ticketing and events. 

‘This decision is our only option,’ chief executive Daniel Lamarre said. 

Canadian-based entertainment company Cirque du Soleil has laid off almost its entire team of more than 4,000 performers

The circus group finished performing its latest show Luzia at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the start of this month, but shows in Aberdeen, supposed to finish tomorrow, have been cancelled. 

Laid-off employees would be given paid holiday. 

It is the latest sign that the coronavirus pandemic is hammering the entertainment industry. 

Theatres have closed or cancelled shows up and down the country. But some are trying to retain customers by putting performances online. 

Hampstead Theatre said its production of Lauren Gunderson’s I And You, starring Game of Thrones’s Maisie Williams, will be re-released on Instagram for free, The Stage reported.