After British Youtube personality Ally Law filmed himself and a friend breaking into the National Theatre late on a Saturday night after the evening’s performance of Follies, the London venue has been forced to reexamine its security practices and procedures.
The two men were able to get into the theatre after hours when they found an unlocked door on the roof of the building.
Much of their time was spent climbing on rails backstage, which became precarious when one the railings came loose. At one point, the two encountered a security guard, but managed to continue their antics after telling him they were at the theatre for “late night rehearsal.”
Through the course of the night, the two men explored backstage, danced on the stage, hung out in dressing rooms and tried on costumes before finding a spare curtain to nestle into and sleep for a few hours.
Watch the entire recording, which was published on Youtube and ends with Law and his friend leaving the theatre the following morning, below.
The National has come under fire on social media for allowing the incident to happen and has responded to concerned theatregoers via Twitter, saying, “We took action immediately after the incident and have further strengthened our security.”
A spokesperson for the theatre told Playbill that they “were shocked and concerned that two intruders recently put themselves at great risk by gaining unauthorised access to a restricted area of the building.“
“The safety and security of everyone at the National Theatre is of the utmost importance,“ read the statement. “We would like to reassure audiences that we have taken immediate action to further strengthen our security, we liaise with the police on an ongoing basis and we are working closely with the Met following this incident.”
The London revival of the Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies began performances August 22. The production stars Olivier winner Imelda Staunton as Sally Durant Plummer, Janie Dee as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Peter Forbes as Buddy Plummer, and Philip Quast as Ben Stone. The Dominic Cooke staging is scheduled to run through January 3.
