Mission: Impossible-style B&E at Revelstoke’s Roxy Theatre?

Was it Mission: Impossible lead character Ethan Hunt executing a meticulous plan by rappelling effortlessly from a hole in the ceiling, or a bumbling burglar crashing through a layer of insulation and drywall and falling about 15 feet to a hard landing on the theatre seats below?

The Roxy Theatre in Revelstoke, which is currently showing Mission: Impossible — Fallout, fell victim to a break and enter sometime in the night between Friday, Aug. 17 and Saturday morning.

The, erm, fallout from the break and enter is a human-sized hole in the ceiling near the back of the theatre, with insulation and pieces of drywall showered over the back rows of the theatre.

In a post on to their Facebook page, the theatre’s owners appealed for tips following the unexpected overnight B&E.

The damage was partially cleaned up by mid-afternoon, and the theatre’s owners are vowing that the show must go on. The 7 p.m. Saturday night screening of Mission: Impossible — Fallout will go ahead a scheduled.

The hole in the ceiling following the B&E at the Roxy Theatre in Revelstoke. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer

Theatre owner Tammy Van Sickle told the Mountaineer that the alarm went off at about 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, so they suspect the break and enter happened around then. She believes the intruder came in through the roof. She said that she hasn’t found anything missing yet.

The damage was fairly extensive. Besides the hole in the ceiling, she believes the intruder fell onto the heaters located on the ceiling, and that the heaters were damaged and will require repair.

“It was absolutely surprising,” Van Sickle said. There’s not much to steal in the theatre; the projecting equipment is valuable, but it’s also very large and would be hard to move. It also requires special computer-based digital licences to operate.

She said the theatre keeps little cash on hand, and they have one of those giant antique safes that are common around town. It’s “very old and huge and locked,” and wouldn’t be worth the effort.

If you have any information on the B&E, contact the Roxy Theatre or the Revelstoke RCMP.