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Theatre in South East England: East SussexBrighton The majority of theatres and theatrical venues in East Sussex are in seaside towns, and Brighton has by far the greatest number of anywhere in the county. The Brighton Centtre is a civic venue, built in 1977, with three auditoria: the massive Main Hall seats 4227, the Hewison Hall 800 and the Wing 600. It's a multi-purpose venue and is probably best known nationally for hosting political parties' annual conferences. Smaller, but still large, is the Brighton Dome, an arts centre which also has three auditoria. The Dome Theatre seats 2102, the Corn Exchange 1200 and the Pavilion Theatre just 230. Its programme is very mixed, but the drama component is usually only amateur.
The only other large (or large-ish, when compared to the first two) venue is the Theatre Royal. Seating 951, it is a national touring house, often hosting runs of shows prior to a London outing, as well as those which are touring from a London start. The only producing theatre is the Komedia, which concentrates on what its management calls "innovative ensemble work" from small-scale touring companies as well as its own product. It has two performance spaces: the Theatre seats 210 and the Music Bar 230. In recent years the Komedia has expanded its operation to include the Edinburgh Fringe, where it has taken over the Southside venue on Nicholson Street and the Roman Eagle Lodge in Johnstone Terrace. The town also boasts one of the few regular pub theatres outside of London. The Marlborough Little Theatre seats just 50. Somewhat larger, but still small, is the New Venture Theatre, which hosts a wide variety of small-scale drama in its two spaces, the 100-seater Theatre and the 80-seater Studio. There are three other venues in Brighton, all based in educational premises. The Brighton Tower Theatre (300), part of the Brighton College of Technology, aims to "encourage new talent in dance, drama and music." The Gardner Arts Centre of the University of Sussex presents a mixed programme in its 482-seater space, and, finally, the Sallis Benney Theatre (370 seats), part of the University of Brighton, concentrates on contemporary music and dance. Eastbourne Eastbourne almost rivals Brighton in the number of its venues, but tends to be a little more tourist-orientated. The Devonshire Park Centre has two major theatres as part of the complex. The best known to the theatre world is the Devonshire Park itself, a national touring house, taking pre- and post-London runs and seating 936. The larger Winter Garden (Floral Hall 1100; Gold Room 400) is a multi-purpose venue which tends to concentrate mainly on concerts. There is another, somewhat larger, national touring house, the Congress Theatre, which seats 1689, and the Royal Hippodrome (643) runs a summer variety season from May through to September. There are three other theatre venues in the town, two of which are education-based. The one which isn't is the Eastbourne Arts Centre, which has a performance space seating 150 in which a varied programme is presented. Park College has its Park Theatre (130 seats): a "black box studio", it presents small-scale tours, as well as student and community productions. Finally there is the Big School Theatre, a 284-seater house which presenst theatre for mainly schools' audiences. Elsewhere in the county Bexhill-on-Sea's De la Ware Pavilion is a large civic centre venue, seating 1016, and presenting some shows which it originates, some touring product, and some hire. Glyndebourne, of course, is the home of the Glyndebourne Opera, one of the UK's leading opera houses. Seating 1200, it - naturally - restricts itself to opera, mainly its own productions, but it will accept some tours. Hove's Hove Centre@Hove Town Hall (1250) is mainly used for concerts, whilst Lewes' arts centre, the All Saints Centre (152), is very specific about what it will - or rather, what it will not - accept. It will take shows for children and adults, but they must be non-sexist and non-racist, and there must be no gratuitous violence or cruelty. The management prefers to preview shows before booking them or, failing that, to see "independent" reviews. Finally St Leonards-on-Sea has its Marine Pavilion, which has 300 seats. Outside of its summer season, it is available for hire only.
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