The Stage

Ireland’s Theatre Royal Waterford reopens after €3 million refurb

Published Friday 4 December 2009 at 10:31 by Anthony Garvey

An Irish regional theatre that claims to be among the oldest in Europe, having been built in 1784, has reopened after a €3 million revamp.

“We just managed to get in under the wire,” says Liz Cahill, marketing manager of the Theatre Royal in Waterford, explaining how the renovation was financed jointly by the Department of Arts and the city council at a time when cuts in arts funding are being predicted.

The redesign of the Victorian-style theatre, by a local architect and the London-based Arts Team, has restored many of its original features and includes remodelled seating, with a capacity for 430. At the official opening, Arts Council chairwoman Pat Moylan described the work as “a magnificent renovation” that would enable the Theatre Royal to fulfil its role in enriching the lives of the people of Waterford and beyond.

Despite the recession, business is good, according to Cahill, with planning for next year’s programme already under way, including the return, after a two-year absence, of Waterford’s International Festival of Light Opera. The theatre’s director, Ben Barnes, has spoken of more ambitious projects, including the possibility of international co-productions, using his contacts with theatre companies in the US and Canada.

Barnes is the former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, who vacated the post early amid controversy and a deficit of €3.4m.