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Dateline: 20th September, 2009
Headlong Comes to Refurbished Maltings Headlong Theatre's production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale comes to Berwick's Maltings Theatre from 1st to 3rd October. Dr Miles Gregory, Chief Executive & Artistic Director of The Maltings, himself a recognised Shakespeare scholar, commented on the significance of the production’s three-day run in Berwick-upon Tweed, "Headlong are one of the finest classical theatre companies in the world. When I approached them about bringing The Winter’s Tale to The Maltings, I didn’t think we stood a chance given the other venues on the tour.
"Southampton’s Nuffield, the York Theatre Royal, Bristol’s Tobacco Factory, and the Chichester Minerva (other venues where the production is playing) are all ‘big guns’ of regional theatre. This is terribly exciting for The Maltings and the theatregoers we serve here in the Scottish Borders and Northumberland." It comes at a time when the theatre has completed a refurbishment of the 325-seat main house, bar, stairways and foyer which has quite transformed the theatre, The work was funded by The Maltings itself, working on a shoe-string budget. Much of the work was done by volunteers, and Berwick's Homebase store gave a generous discount on all materials purchased, as did Glendale Paints. "The board allocated us a hard-earned £12,000 from our refurbishment reserve to make these changes," said Dr Gregory. "Some £4000 went on the foyer, £3500 was spent on the bar and £4500 on the theatre." Further plans for next year include the refurbishment of the 150 square metre Henry Travers Studio above the main house to provide a high-quality venue for small-scale entertainment and experimental or intimate performances. The theatre, which offers film as well as stage shows, announced record ticket sales between April and July, nearly doubling the amount sold in the same period last year: 10,289 tickets for film and live performance, up from just 6,365 tickets sold in the same period in 2008. "We knew that there was a strong appetite in the area for high-quality performance," Dr Gregory said, "but we never expected to see sales nearly double." This year The Maltings is set to see over 350 event nights programmed, over double the 150 events it averaged annually in the past. The Maltings also houses conference and meeting rooms, a radio studio and office for Radio Borders, the offices of the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, and acts as a venue for nearly twenty local community groups and organisations, ranging from the Maltings Youth Theatre to the local U3A. The theatre is also the first in the country to offer free tickets to almost all their shows to military personnel. "We all know the sacrifices the armed forces are making in the line of duty," Dr Gregory said. "This is our chance to say a very small thank you to them and to make them feel welcome when they return home from the front line. "I call on other theatres to join us and to make free tickets available to our troops. It's a small gesture, but I hope that it will help make our soldiers' time back at home as enjoyable and relaxing as possible."
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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