At the close of a year that has very much gone wrong, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse has made another difficult decision – to postpone its forthcoming comedy, “The Play That Goes Wrong,” from this January to January 2022.

Denny Hitchcock

“With the explosion of Covid–19 cases in the last few weeks, and our governor reverting back to the restrictions of Stage 3, coupled with the huge post-Thanksgiving surge anticipated in the next 2 weeks, and the post-Christmas increase, it was abundantly clear we had to postpone the show,” Circa ‘’21 producer Denny Hitchcock said Wednesday.

“Our main concern, as always is the health and safety of our guests, as well as that of our actors and staff,” he said.

“We know thousands of other small businesses across the country are also struggling to keep their heads above water long enough to reopen at full capacity,” Hitchcock said. “Many will not make it. I’m confident we will because of the amazing support we have had from our guests, not only over the past 43 years, but also since March, when all this began. For that, I sincerely thank everyone.”

“I also want to thank our elected officials who have supported our request to have our business category changed from ‘theatre’ to ‘restaurant’,” he said. “This will give us more flexibility with our capacity in the future.”

All reservations for “The Play That Goes Wrong” in 2021 will automatically be moved to the same seats on the relative date in 2022.

Since March, the mainstage at Circa ’21, 1828 3^rd Ave., Rock Island, was dark until the September opening of the four-person “Savannah

Brett Hitchcock

Sipping Society,” which ran for two months with a maximum of 50 patrons per performance. The theater can seat 334 people normally.

Circa decided to close for the remainder of November and December, with their planned productions of “Winter Wonderland” and “Seussical” moved to the end of the 2021 season instead.

“This was a terribly difficult decision,” Brett Hitchcock, director of audience development, said in early November. “The holiday season is always the most popular time of year at the theater with our biggest crowds. This will be the first time since opening in 1977 the theater will be dark over the holiday season.”

Denny Hitchcock said Wednesday: “All of us at Circa ‘21 look forward to resuming operations and are very excited to welcome back our guests beginning March 17 with ‘The Church Basement Ladies in You Smell Barn.’”

The theater is open on Saturdays from 10-4 to purchase gift certificates, season tickets or to make reservations for an upcoming show. You may also call the ticket office on Saturday’s at 309-786-7733, ext. 2.  Gift certificates may also be purchased online at circa21.com.

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Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner -- who has called the Quad Cities home since 1995 -- has decades of experience as a professional journalist and pianist. His experience writing for daily newspapers, public radio and local TV encompasses a wide range of subjects, including the arts, politics, education, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism.

Jonathan most loves writing about music and the arts (which he now does as a freelancer for the River Cities Reader and Visit Quad Cities). He has a passion for accompanying musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, including playing for QC Music Guild's 2023 productions of RENT and SWEENEY TODD. He is assistant music director and accompanist for the spring 2025 Music Guild show, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. He wrote an original musical based on The Book of Job, which premiered at Playcrafters in 2010. Jonathan penned a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, that was published by The History Press in 2016, and a travel guide about the QC published by Reedy Press in 2022.