Alphabetti returns – with a 10 year lease

Published: 14 June 2017
Reporter: Peter Lathan

Alphabetti Theatre

Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre, which had to leave its New Bridge Street premises in March, now has a new home on St James Boulevard, close to the Discovery Museum and to retro bowling alley, restaurant and bar Lane 7, and will have a 10-year lease to secure its future.

Construction for the new 100-seat venue began at the beginning of May, and, once completed, will have a fully stocked bar, filled with a range of locally sourced craft beers and spirits, along with a coffee shop and second hand bookshop. The venue will host live theatre, music, comedy, dance and poetry from a mixture of experienced and emerging artists.

The venue will be home to a number of fully equipped offices which are available to rent, as well as a large rehearsal space which will be available for hire.

Alphabetti Theatre received a small grant from Arts Council England which enabled the building work to start. The design and build is being overseen by artist collective, TILT Workshop, supported by students from Newcastle College’s Construction Course, who will get vital hands on experience in creating this new performance venue.

“This shows,” said Artistic and Executive Director Ali Pritchard, “how the ‘Alphabetti spirit’ of supporting local emerging talent is spreading further than the performing arts.”

It will reopen officially on 1 September but, because of the necessity for further funding to complete the work within the projected timeframe, there will be three fundraising events in the intervening months.

The first will be on Saturday 1 July, offering a sneak peek into the developing space, along with an opportunity to hear and see the future plans from Ali Pritchard. Then from 8PM there will be music from Old Police House Collective DJs Mariam Rezaei & Mark Wardlaw.

Tickets for the event, which will run from 7PM to 1AM will be available at £8 each.

There will be two further fundraisers on 4 and 5 August, where Alphabetti Theatre welcomes long-term friends, supporters and Newcastle talents Holy Moly & The Crackers and Dansi to the stage.

“This is an unbelievably exciting time for us,” Pritchard added. “When I started the company in 2012 in a room above a pub, I never even dreamt that five years later I’d be building and opening a 100-seater venue. It’s terrifying yet electrifying. The security and stability we will have will mean a huge increase in opportunities for both artists and audiences.”

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