Abbey Theatre, Nuneaton
The Abbey Theatre is situated on Pool Bank Street in the Abbey Ward of Nuneaton, England, and is managed and run by a team of dedicated volunteers by the Nuneaton Arts Council (NAC)
 Auditorium | |
| |
| Address | Pool Bank Street Nuneaton England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52.52288°N 1.47513°W |
| Owner | Nuneaton Arts Council |
| Type | Receiving house |
| Capacity | 250 + wheelchair spaces |
| Current use | Theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Renovated | 1969 to 1974 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The venue hosts a wide variety of performances including visiting theatre companies, touring shows, musicals, pantomime and drama, dance, comedy and occasional film screenings.
The theatre's manager is Tony Deeming. It is run as a charity by Nuneaton Arts Council.The theatre's charity number is 259613.
With a regular annual attendance of over 30,000, the Abbey is the only public theatre in Nuneaton, and one of the busiest venues in Warwickshire.
History
The Nuneaton Arts Council was founded in 1969 by a group of local arts devotees who noted the continuing demise of other venues in Nuneaton. They saw the need to provide a focal point for all aspects of arts, and so when the local Territorial Army drill hall became available, the new Arts Council began the conversion of building to satisfy the needs of the artistic community.
The task was completed in 1974, and the very first performance was from the Nuneaton Pantomime and Revue Society, with their production of "Finian's Rainbow".
For several years in the 1980s the theatre also took on the role as the town's only cinema following the closure of the last full time picture house (The Ritz) and continued semi-regular screenings until the new Odeon multi-screen complex opened in the nearby Bermuda Estate.
The theatre has had a chequered past, with ups and downs over the past 50 years, including a couple of near closures the most notable being the asbestos situation in 2003. That saw the building closed with no notice after asbestos was identified in many parts of the venue, some of which had been disturbed during recent modification works to upgrade the facilities. The doors were closed for 6 months, but after agreement with the local authority (the building's landlord) a rescue package was agreed and the theatre re-opened in the early autumn and has not looked back since.
On 22 January 2007, a performance of the Pied Piper of Hamelin went up half an hour late after contractors had inadvertently concreted emergency doors shut.
In 2008, The Masqueraders Theatrical society became another society that had to move from the Civic Hall, Bedworth to the Abbey Theatre, due to the costs of hiring the much larger Bedworth venue.
November 2008 saw an entire winter season at the Abbey nearly come to a complete halt because due to the demolition of the old Co-op Hall, situated immediately behind the theatre, which was to become a Lidl supermarket. Access to the backstage areas of the theatre was under threat but last minute talks narrowly avoided all shows in that month being cancelled.
August 2012 saw the theatre granted planning permission to install air conditioning in all public areas of the building, improving the customer experience, as previously watching a show at the Abbey was a hot affair.
In June 2014, the theatre took part in the UK Heritage Open Weekend and the public were invited to take a look around the theatre.
In March 2015, the theatre was the venue for what was thought to be the largest ghost hunters convention in the UK.[1]
During March 2015 the venue was also used for a Beats project which was featured on BBC Radio One.[2]
One of the biggest challenges to the Abbey, and to all UK theatres, was in 2020 when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created a global situation which saw all UK venues close on March 16th. At the time of editing this wiki theatres were still closed, but on July 5th the UK government announced a £1.57 billion rescue package of grants and loans for the arts industry. It was hoped that this injection of funding would ensure the survival of many theatres across the country until such time as they could re-open their doors safely to the public.
Facilities
The main house
The main house seats 250 people with space for 4 wheelchair users with a carer seat by the side of each. The stage is a little over 3 feet high from floor level, the seating is raked (stepped) to the back of the auditorium.
Bar
The bar can be used for non-theatre events and has in the past hosted smaller events such as comedy nights, small acoustic sessions, and meetings. In the bar area are chairs, sofa's and various screens for showing advertising for forthcoming events.
Milby room
The Milby room can accommodate up to 60 people. It is used as a rehearsal space for various groups, for local chess club meetings every Monday evening, and by the local neighborhood watch team for local resident meetings.
Etone Lounge
This is the biggest space outside of the main house and can be used to put on small productions, as this space can seat up to 100 people depending on the layout. This space is mainly used for rehearsals for the local groups as well as for meetings if required.
The future
In February 2014 it was announced that the NAC was working in conjunction with Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC) to design and build a brand new community arts complex within the town's ring road, which would provide many more opportunities for a programme with increased quantity, quality and diversity. Although this project has yet to be fully realised, in 2019 the NAC became associated with the Transforming Nuneaton Project (TNP) and the prospect of achieving this long-term goal for the NAC to move to larger premises is now truly in sight.
References
- Mike Malyon (22 January 2015). "Ghost hunters to converge on Nuneaton theatre". Coventry Telegraph.
- "North Warwickshire projects stars on Radio One". Nuneaton News. 13 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.