Now, I love an evening at the theatre. As a public speaker I appreciate the buzz of a live audience. Of course, we were denied this during the pandemic and there was real concern as to how many theatres would ride the storm and continue. Now, once again, playing before packed audiences, here’s my shout-out for our provincial Cotswold theatres that kept calm and carried on.
I’m featuring ten but this is my tribute to you all. Oh, and I cheat slightly by slipping in a cinema but I have my reasons (read on).
Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
I’m starting in Cheltenham where the Everyman is the oldest-surviving theatre designed by the Devonian architect Frank Matcham (1854-1920). Opened in 1891, the Grade II Listed theatre debuted with a performance by the Prince of Wales’ paramour, Lillie Langtry. There are two theatres, the main auditorium, Matcham’s architectural masterpiece, and the far smaller, more intimate Studio Theatre. There’s a wide variety of production: Ballet, opera, drama, dance, comedy, music events and panto, plus community projects, education workshops and youth theatre sessions. There’s also plenty of refreshment options (café, bar, restaurant).
www.everymantheatre.org.uk
Stroud Subscription Rooms
When I wrote about the Cotswolds ’60s Rock scene (November 2022 issue) I mentioned the Subscription Rooms where The Beatles played in 1962. This late-Georgian Grade II Listed edifice is older than even Cheltenham’s Everyman, built in 1833 under the watchful eye of local Painswick architect Charles Baker and as for its name, well, it was funded by public subscription. There’s another eclectic mix of entertainment on offer. Noted for its live music, the ‘Subs’ also has comedy, film, talks, classes/workshops, whilst come December there’s also panto and a Christmas market. The Central Bar & Kitchen is popular and there’s ‘Paella Night’ every Tuesday.
www.thesubrooms.co.uk
Princess Hall / Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham
I wanted to try and feature ten different places and almost succeeded but I found it hard not to return to Cheltenham where there are so many options for live entertainment with the Bacon Theatre, Playhouse and Town Hall to name but three more. The Parabola Arts Centre (a parabola being a symmetrical Ushape curve) and Princess Hall are part of Cheltenham Ladies College, opened in 1854. The Gothic Hall, one of the town’s most spectacular venues, holds up to 800 and hosts large performances such as concerts whilst the minimalist, contemporary Parabola is smaller, just over 300, so ideal for more intimate events.
www.venues.cheltladiescollege.org
Gloucester Guildhall
You’ll have gathered by now that a trip to the theatre isn’t just about enjoying a show, it’s also about a sense of place and some Cotswold venues are amazing places where you breath in the architecture. Gloucester’s Grade II Listed Guildhall is another example, completed in 1892 under the auspices of architect George H. Hunt, visited by Edward VII (that Prince of Wales mentioned earlier) in 1909, and by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. When the Council departed in the 1980s an arts centre arrived comprising a main hall and cinema. There’s a mix of events, over 300 per year, including films, music, comedy, theatre and opera. The Bar and Kitchen provides sustenance.
www.gloucesterguildhall.co.uk
Giffords Circus
Working has become more flexible with ‘Work from Home’ severing the umbilical cord between office and worker. Similarly, not all entertainment has a fixed venue. Take Giffords Circus, for example, a small village green circus company established in 2000 that tours the Cotswolds each summer with its themed production. As a lover of both history and literature I was particularly taken with the 2011 offering, ‘War and Peace’, which entertained through the prism of Napoleon’s fateful invasion of Russia. Whatever the theme, it’s imbued with magic, mystery and intrigue, a pilgrimage worth making the effort for, a chance to revisit childhood and be moved all over again.
NOTE – Giffords Circus performed at the 2022 Royal Variety Performance.
www.giffordscircus.com
Royal Shakespeare Company
Having written about the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death (April 2016 issue) and the 140th anniversary of the opening of the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (June 2019) I regarded the RSC as a shoe-in.
The company’s spiritual home is Stratford-upon-Avon, of course, where the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and its smaller sidekick, the Swan Theatre, reopened in 2010 following refurbishment. I’m fortunate enough to have attended productions in both at the time I was researching the second of those two features. I enjoyed the Bard’s ‘As You Like It’ which tell us that ‘All the World’s a Stage’; perhaps he had Gifford’s Circus in mind.
www.rsc.org.uk
Regal, Evesham
Now I’m cheating a tad for the Regal in Evesham is more cinema than theatre but I wanted to include an establishment that was an escape and refuge when I was a kid for the Vale of Evesham was where I developed. It’s a lovely art deco place designed by cinema architect Hurley Robinson (1883-1953), Grade II Listed, opened in 1932, sadly closed in 2003, but happily reopened following refurbishment in 2012. And I’m not really cheating as in addition to films and screenings there’s live music, comedy, lectures, exhibitions etc. The Regal offers much more than a typical cinema so is deservedly ‘in’ with its upmarket coffee shop morphing into an evening wine bar.
www.theregal.ac
READ MORE: Celebrating 90 years of the Regal theatre in Evesham
Arts in Rural Gloucestershire
An Arts Centre without walls, Arts in Rural Gloucestershire (or ‘AIR in G’) is a rural touring scheme that sees exciting performances taking place in village halls and community spaces across the county. AIR in G was established in 2001 and since then audiences in over 90 communities have appreciated more than 800 high-quality performances, including puppetry, circus, drama, comedy, cabaret, storytelling and many different forms of music, and all at affordable prices and with negligible travelling. AIR in G is the only organisation offering this type of community service within Gloucestershire. All the world’s a stage again.
www.airing.co.uk
Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury
Having written about its Wars of the Roses battle (4th May 1471) for Cotswold Life (May/June 2021), the name of this theatre made eminent sense. There was an art deco predecessor which closed in the 1960s, so unlike some of our other featured venues the Roses Theatre is relatively modern, opening in 1975. There’s a varied programme of events utilising a 370-seat auditorium plus the relaxing bar/coffee shop with everything from live events and take part activities to exhibitions and festivals. Legendary comedian Eric Morecambe (1926-84) gave his final performance here so the ‘Morecambe Room’ is named in his honour.
www.rosestheatre.org
www.shed-arts.co.uk
MORE COTSWOLD THEATRES (selected)
Bacon Theatre, Cheltenham (www.bacontheatre.co.uk)
Cheltenham Playhouse (www.cheltplayhouse.org.uk)
The Theatre, Chipping Norton (www.chippingnortontheatre.com)
Cheltenham Town Hall (www.cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk)
Sundial Theatre, Cirencester (www.sundial-theatre.co.uk)
The Barn Theatre, Cirencester (www.barntheatre.org.uk)
Prema Arts Centre, Dursley (www.prema.org.uk)
Longborough Festival Opera / Longborough Opera House (www.lfo.org.uk)
Cotswold Playhouse, Stroud (www.cotswoldplayhouse.co.uk)
Tuckwell Amphitheatre, Cheltenham (www.bacontheatre.co.uk)
Cherries on a Cloud Burlesque, Gloucester (www.cherriesonacloud.com)
Burford Jazz Club (www.burfordjazz.co.uk)
Victory Club, Cheltenham (www.thevictoryclub.org)
The Cornbury Music Festival (www.cornburyfestival.com)
NEW CINEMA COMING TO THE COTSWOLDS IN SUMMER 2023
The Living Room Cinema is new community-focused boutique cinema that is set to open on Chipping Norton's Hight Street in Mid-July thelivingroomcinemachippy.co.uk
