|
|
|
|
Articles
|
|
|
Articles |
Warwickshire, West Midlands, WorcestershireWarwickshire The most famous theatrical venue in Warwickshire - and probably in the entire country - is the Art Deco Royal Shakespeare Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford-upon-Avon. Now somewhat dated and not entirely satisfactory for its purpose, there are plans for it to be substantially rebuilt. It seats 1421. Also in Stratford, of course, are the RSC's other venues: the Other Place, which is a studio style of auditorium, seating just 174, and the Swan, a wooden tiered building, built in 1986, which seats 450. The plans announced by Adrian Noble later in 2001 would close The Other Place. All of these, of course, are internationally famous. Not really known outside of Stratford - and usually more or less completely ignored by the myriads of tourists who flock to the town - is the Civic Hall, which presents a varied programme in its 476-seater auditorium. The only theatre in Warwick itself is part of Warwick School. It is a courtyard style of venue, purpose-built, and seating 310. Although part of the school, it is open to the local community. Elsewhere in Warwickshire, Atherstone has a 300-seater venue in the Memorial Hall Leisure Complex, which anounces itself as providing local and regional arts and entertainment. In Bedworth there is the Civic Hall which presents a mixed programme of msuic, dance and drama in its 813-seater Main Hall and 100-seater Small Hall. Rugby too has its Civic Centre, the Benn Hall, which presents all kinds of enetrtainment in its 550-seater auditorium. Finally in Warwickshire, there is the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa which has three auditoria: the 800-seater Avon Hall, the Newbold Hall (200) and the Jephson Room (40). This civic centre presents light entertainment and community shows, doing mainly one-night stands and panto. West Midlands Wolverhampton, the most theatrically well endowed of the West Midland towns, has three venues. The Grand Theatre is a national touring house with a capacity of 1200. It also has its producing theatre, the Educational Theatre with a main house of 165 and a studio of 100. Finally the Wolverhampton Civic, a civic centre, is mainly used for concerts although it does accept small-scale professional and amateur productions in the Wulfrum Hall (672 seats). Darlaston has two theatre venues, the Concert Hall (418) presents music, drama and dance, while the Leisure Centre is the home of the Gazebo Theatre Company. Availablility is very limited, and it is a small venue, with its Main Theatre seating just 80 and the Upper Hall 40. In Dudley the Netherton Arts Centre takes touring shows, amateur performances and youth theatre. A 361-seater, it is available for hire. West Bromwich Town Hall (700 capacity) has a mixed programme, whilst Willenhall's Leisure Centre, with its 500 seats, is available for hire. Worcestershire Worcester itself has the Swan Theatre, a 353-seater producing house which has a rep season from August through to April and outside of this time accepts some tours and makes the theatre available for hire. Sadly for the theatre and its supporters, the Swan was not one of those which received extra cash last week from ACE. Also in the couny town is the Worcester Arts Workshop which has a very small theatre, seating 90 in the round and 50/60 end-on. Its programme includes both professional and amateur performances (twenty non-professional per annum), but it does not take touring shows. The other nationally known Worcestershire theatre is the Malvern Theatres, the home of the Malvern Festival. Featuring both professional and amateur productions, the Malevern Theatres consists of the Festival Theatre (850 seats) and the New Space (500-830 flexible). The only national tour receiving house in the county is the Palace in Redditch, but that is quite a small venue, seating 399. Its programme consists of amateur and professional shows. Kidderminster's Rose Theatre has two auditoria: the Main House seats 181 and the Studio 60. Purpose-built in 1981, it features ten productions per annum by its resident amateur company and approximately ten small-scale professional tours. The Town Hall in Kidderminster will also accept drama productions, but it is primarily a concert hall and, if used for drama, an occasional theatre licence has to be applied for. It seats 500. Stourbridge's Town Hall is also for hire for theatrical productions and Evesham's Arts Centre (310 seats) has a mixed programme of amateur and professional shows. Finally, Droitwich's Norbury Theatre is purely amateur, producing four plays, one light opera, one musical and one pantomime a year. Its main house seats 180 and its studio 50. Introduction Articles Indices: |
|
|