The show will go on at a Sussex theatre - despite the theft of the scenery.
A minibus and trailer containing the entire set for a production of James Harman's play Any Extra's? at the Alexandra Theatre in Bognor has been stolen from outside a Chesterfield bed and breakfast where the cast were staying.
The company is now without its £1,500 minibus and £4,500 trailer but the most serious blow was the loss of the scenery, which had only just been finished ready for the play's national tour.
The play, which is set in a massage parlour, will now have to open in Bognor next week with whatever scenery can be scraped together.
The thieves did not steal the actors' costumes, which were inside the guest house at the time of the theft. Gerry Graham, producer of the Derby-based Fame Factory Presentations, said: "We suspect it was stolen because of the trailer but the thieves will get a shock when they find out what is in it.
"I don't know what they would want with the interior of a massage parlour.
"I imagine it will end up being dumped or burned. It had only just been finished. I had not even seen it."
Mr Graham said the company was determined not to let down audiences in Bognor.
Any Extra's? is at the Alexandra Theatre in Belmont Street, Bognor, from Wednesday until Friday.
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