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Sherman Cymru awarded £4m for building revamp

Published Tuesday 30 June 2009 at 13:45 by Lalayn Baluch

South Wales’ only producing house, Sherman Cymru, has been awarded a grant of £3.9 million to help transform its theatre building.

The capital Lottery cash from Arts Council of Wales amounts to almost three-quarters of the £5.4 million needed for the proposed redevelopment project.

Designed by Jonathan Adams at Capita Architecture, who also created the Wales Millennium Centre, the scheme will include modernised public areas, new seating in the main auditorium and studio space and improved toilet facilities. The backstage area will also be refurbished and a new “main stage-size” creative and rehearsal space built.

Sherman Cymru director Chris Ricketts said: “Part of what we are wanting to do with the redevelopment is improve the artistic facilities backstage and improve the front of house facilities.

“If we can attract more people back into the building, we are earning more money, which means we can invest more money back into the work we are able to produce and present. A real part of this is driving audience growth, to put together a programme that pulls more people into the building.”

Sherman Cymru aims to raise the remaining £1.5 million for the scheme from a range of sources, including trusts and foundations. A public campaign for individual donations will be launched in September and fund-raising activities will include theatre staff running the Cardiff Half Marathon.

The current building is due to close for 18 months from January 2010. The organisation will move to temporary offices, and productions will be staged in found spaces and theatres across the country.

Sherman Cymru’s theatre building opened in 1973 as part of the University College Cardiff, following a donation from Harry and Abe Sherman. It was bought by the Arts Council of Great Britain in the late eighties and ownership transferred to ACW when ACGB was split up. The building was then leased to the Sherman Theatre Limited.

In 2007, the Sherman Theatre Company and new-writing company Sgript Cymru merged to create Sherman Cymru.

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