A GROUNDBREAKING play showcasing the highs and lows of being a Saints fan has been delayed due to a major technical glitch.

Entitled The Saints, it was due to start a 17-night run on Friday at the purpose-built Nuffield Playing Field pop-up theatre venue in Guildhall Square.

The venue- that combines football stadium with Jacobean-themed theatre - was due to open on Friday as the City celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Now as the building team races to complete work that started a month ago at the site the Nuffield has said that the launch will have to be put back by one day.

Nuffield spokesman Chris Duncan said that due to some “technical setbacks” with the new structure the launch will now be on Saturday night at 7.30pm.

He told the Daily Echo:”The cancellations have been necessary because the company building the structure, Assemble Architects have been held up through their suppliers. Quite a few parts of it have been custom-made because of the unusual nature of the building so to release pressure and rather than have a half-finished venue that could be risky we decided to cancel the first two performances.”

All those who have bought tickets for those two performances are being contacted and offered a full refund or tickets for another performance.

Anyone who has not heard and has bought tickets can contact the box office on: 023 8067 1771.

Chris added:”It would have been different if this was just a one-night show but for us to go ahead could have been dangerous and customers might not have experienced what they expect. The extra 24 hours will make all the difference; I believe they have all the parts they need now. It's an incredibly complex and challenging project: building work only started on June 30th.

“But this type of project is what the architects specialise in so we are sure everything will be fine.

They are currently doing a project in Glasgow for the Common Wealth Games and they created the Chichester Festival Theatre's Theatre on the Fly, so they are experts in their field.

“We want to be 100 per cent ready for the audience."