A Suffolk theatre company has announced that "the show can go on" after its leading man fell ill.

Common Ground Theatre Company, known for their popular Christmas shows, have found a replacement for Dick Mainwaring who suffered a heart attack earlier in the year.

After a scramble to find a person to the fill the role, Matthew Rutherford  will take over the part for this year's production of Father Brown and the Curse of the Xmas Fairy.

Dick Mainwaring (Left) and Julian Harries (Right) are both a part of Common Ground Theatre Company, who run theatre shows across Suffolk Dick Mainwaring (Left) and Julian Harries (Right) are both a part of Common Ground Theatre Company, who run theatre shows across Suffolk (Image: Common Ground Theatre Company) Julian Harries, 62, actor and theatre manager for the company, said: "Christmas is when a lot of actors are in work, usually the casting of Christmas shows happens in the summer, it's a time when a lot of actors are busy

"We are lucky that Matt Rutherford, who has been in our shows before was available."

According to Mr Harries, Mr Mainwaring is making good progress towards recover and is hopeful that he will make a full recover for the company's 2025 Christmas show. 

Father Brown and the Curse of the Xmas Fairy has shows running across Suffolk during the festive season and Mr Harries also stressed the importance of the Christmas period on the theatre industry as a whole.

Matthew Rutherford has agreed to fill in for the recovering Dick Mainwaring and has worked with the company beforeMatthew Rutherford has agreed to fill in for the recovering Dick Mainwaring and has worked with the company before (Image: Common Ground Theatre Company) He said: "I think it is the one time where a lot of people go to the theatre, for some people it is the only time they ever go to the theatre is at Christmas. 

"I think it's a big thing for people in the area to be able to enjoy a live show, and for theatre companies it's their biggest and busiest time.

"We like to take our Christmas show to as many communities as possible, often the places where there isn't a Christmas show in their area.

"Places like Aldeburgh, there isn't a homegrown Christmas show there so we are very happy to offer those communities a professional Christmas show."

Christmas is one of the busiest periods for theatre companiesChristmas is one of the busiest periods for theatre companies (Image: Common Ground Theatre Company)