Abbey Theatre, Nuneaton

Abbey Theatre

Auditorium
Address	Pool Bank Street, Nuneaton, CV11 5DB
Owner	Nuneaton Arts Council
Type	Receiving House
Capacity	248
Construction
Opened	1969
Rebuilt	2001
Architect	Michael Scott
Website
abbeytheatre.co.uk

The Abbey Theatre is a theatre situated on Pool Bank Street in the Abbey Green quarter of Nuneaton, England.

The venue hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring shows, musicals, pantomime and drama.

The theatre's Chief Executive is Tony Deeming, and is run as a trust by Nuneaton Arts Council.

With a regular annual attendance of over 30,000, the Abbey Theatre is the busiest theatre in Nuneaton, and the busiest venue for musicals 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 the Abbey Theatre was converted from what was until then a Territorial Army drill hall.

On the 22nd 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 August 2008 new security fencing were installed at the theatre to help with keeping anti-social behaviour away from the theatre and encourage more theatergoers to enjoy the diverse range of productions performed at the Abbey Theatre

In 2008 Masqueraders Theatrical society became another society that had to move from the Bedworth Civic Hall to the Abbey Theatre, due to the costs of hiring the Bedworth venue

November 2008 saw an entire winter season at the Abbey nearly come to a complete halt becuase due to the demoition of the old Ritz music hall which was to become a supermarket access to the backstage areas of the theatre were lost, last minute talks only 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 March 2015 the theatre was the venue for what was thought to be the largest ghost hunters convention in the UK During March 2015 the venue was also used for a Beats project which was featured on BBC Radio One

Facilities

The Main House

The main house seats 248 people with space for 4 wheelchair users with carers. The stage is 4 foot 6 inches high from floor level, the seating is raked 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, meetings, in the bar area are chairs, sofa's and various screens for showing content

Milby Room

The Milby room can accommodate 30 people and is used as a rehearsal space for various groups as well as the local chess club meet in this room every Monday evening, it is also used for the local neighborhood watch team for local resident meeetings.

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 50 people, 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 Abbey would close its doors and a new venue would take its place in a new creative quarter being created in the town which would also include an Art House, Cinema, with bars and restaurants to complement this area. The new venue proposals include three auditorium's, rehearsal and set building space. The new main auditorium will include 350 seats in a stalls and balcony arrangement, a space below the stage for musicians to be positioned during a performance as well as a full backstage dressing room and green room complex for better facilities for visiting companies. Although a name has not been chosen yet for the new venue Nuneaton Arts Council have confirmed it will not be called the Abbey Theatre.

No date has been formally set for the Abbey to be vacated although it is expected this will not take place until the new venue is up and running or by the end of the 2017 season.