The Stage

Theatre Royal Bath will open £3m youth theatre

Published Tuesday 9 August 2005 at 12:25 by Nuala Calvi

Theatre Royal Bath is to open a new £3 million theatre complex as part of a move to expand its youth theatre and education department.

The venue’s existing 145-seat studio theatre space for children and young people, which is one of the largest in the country, has been heavily over-subscribed.

Now a 120-seat auditorium, to be named The Egg, has been created within a Grade II listed former cinema building next to the main theatre. It will allow the Theatre Royal’s education department to run a year-round programme of theatre for and by children and young people. It is hoped the new venue will attract up to 45,000 youngsters with live performances, workshops, work experience placements and targeted projects for disadvantaged children.

The Egg also features an arts cafe which doubles as a performance space, a rooftop rehearsal room with views over the city, and a technical workshop in the basement, where young people will be able to make costumes, masks, puppets and props.

Kate Cross, director of The Egg, said: “The opening of this unique facility demonstrates the Theatre Royal’s commitment to children and young people. They can expect to enjoy a regular season of work that speaks to them, aspires to the highest standards, expects nothing less than the highest standards from them and never, never falls into the trap of thinking that young audiences are a soft touch.”

Theatre Royal Bath opened a 145-seat studio theatre seven years ago to house its youth theatre and education department - one of the largest in the country.

The Egg opens with the Big Day In on October 23, a free day-long showcase of circus, performance and workshops featuring performers from Belgium, Switzerland and South Africa, followed by The Wild and Wacky Festival, a seven-day programme of performance and participation.