The
Abbey Theatre & Arts Centre
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Nuneaton Arts Council - A brief history The Nuneaton Arts Council was founded thirty years ago 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 Arts Centre was converted from what was until then a Territorial Army drill hall. The voluntary body, Nuneaton Arts Council, was, as they are now, entirely unpaid for their endeavours - many of whom spent long hours building, decorating and equipping the centre, which would provide excellent facilities for performance, visual and other arts media. A quote given at the time rings as true now as it certainly did then - "A man who works with his hands is called a labourer. One who works with his hands and his head is called a craftsman, but the man who works with his hands, his head and his heart has the right to be called an artist". Those artists who set in motion the foundation of the present Arts Centre truly deserve the thanks of the local people for creating opportunities for organisations large and small to show their talent, entertaining and educating the public at large. Since then, the Arts Centre has had a chequered history. For a while, the building thrived on a diet of plays, pantomimes, musicals and the like on it’s stage, whilst the rooms upstairs hosted a wide variety of clubs and societies both rehearsing and meeting in the friendly, comfortable surroundings. The members bar was the place for local thespians and artists alike to meet and discuss performances and exhibitions past, present and future, and enjoy the company of many like minded people. Unhappily, however, the decline in groups using the centre around the late 70’s, early 80’s meant that the management team had to look elsewhere for income to support and subsidise the amateur societies, whilst keeping the building running. Fortune smiled, though with the closure of the last main cinema in Nuneaton, the Ritz, and the NAC took over the role of showing latest release films for public enjoyment. With this new venture firmly established the centre took on a new lease of life, as the cinema audiences brought much needed cash through the doors and, more importantly, a different spectrum of audience many of whom had never been to see a show there before. For some time it seemed that the Arts Centre survived solely on the income generated from this source. Unfortunately, however, the introduction of two multi-screen complexes in Coventry and Tamworth gradually saw the audience figures dwindle to alarming levels. The distributors would no longer allow the showing of first-run movies, due to the limitations of availability and the relatively low box-office receipts. Whilst we could compete on price (the NAC retained the cheapest admission prices) we could not do so on the programme. It was therefore inevitable, as the building had become so dependant upon cinema returns, that the Nuneaton Arts Centre closed its doors in the summer of 1994, just days before the planned 25th anniversary celebrations of its conception, and with three major productions in full rehearsal ready for autumn presentation. The closure only lasted for a matter of days nevertheless. Individuals and societies were marshalled, and after a great deal of publicity and public discussion, the Arts Centre re-opened, though with a dramatically altered philosophy. The cinema was kept, but the accent was put back into live arts performances. Films were to take second place, and be restricted to one or two a month. There was a sudden increase in the number of groups who either needed a place to meet or a venue for their performance. The building was in the public eye, and as such went through a virtual rebirth with new groups applying for time and space within our walls. However, chequered as the life of the the Arts Centre had been, more upheaval was to come. 1999 saw another major hurdle to the continuation of theatre & related arts in the borough - after a continuing degradation in the financial fortunes of the venue due, unfortunately, in the main to poor management, the committee found itself without a standing chairman and treasurer, and worse still, debts previously unknown which stood at approximately £28,000! At the AGM in May that year, a new committee was formed under a new chairman from the remnants of the old, and the whole outlook of the Centre examined. After a great deal of work from the committee and stalwart supporters, the debts were assessed, creditors contacted, deals struck and a business plan formulated. To cut a long story very short, however, in less than twelve months that debt was reduced to almost nil by a combination of good husbandry and hard work on behalf of the new team. There followed a period of steady improvement in many areas. Bookings began to rise, slowly at first, but as word of the changes to the building (by now renamed back to the original Abbey Theatre & Arts Centre) they began to increase more rapidly. As the use of the theatre went up, so did the amount of funding available for physical refurbishment. The technical department was able to invest in new equipment to help users produce more and more interesting visual shows, money was spent on public areas - the old auditorium seating was re-upholstered and the auditorium itself given a well deserved lick of paint. The stage floor and frontage were both recovered and repainted. Then came the two biggest planned projects in the theatre's recent history. To bring the wiring up to standard as well as provide much needed extra circuits, the technical team embarked upon a huge rewire in January 2003. This included making changes to the control room layout which unfortunately was the source of maybe the biggest threat to the theatre's existence ever..... Asbestos. During the work on the control room, the team removed one viewing window into the auditorium and enlarged another, which involved cutting into the partition wall. Because of what at best could be called a misunderstanding with the local council's technical services department, the NAC team believed they were safe to do this, but following a snap inspection from a council engaged consultant in March, it was unfortunately identified as asbestos insulation board, and as such the disturbance of the material caused contamination in that area far in excess of HASW safety levels. We were unceremoniously closed down and the building sealed against all use. Cutting yet another long story short, there followed several months of meetings, discussions, arguments and such with the local authority, but in the end the Arts Council and it's supporters won the day, securing a £75,000 rescue package in September to pay for the loss of theatre seating, technical equipment, bar stock and of course the removal of all asbestos material in the building. (The full story of the asbestos saga can be seen by following the links from the menu above on this page) The other major plan for that year was to have been the refurbishment during the summer of the main foyer bar. Obviously with the asbestos enforced closure this was far from possible - we didn't even know whether we would have a building at all at one stage! However, once the decision to support the building had been made by the authority, we felt that the time was ripe to go ahead with our plans and make the improvements everyone felt were much needed. We had been offered a design consultancy at a peppercorn cost by a company in Birmingham, and we grabbed it with both hands. The results were astounding - once the facelift had been completed the foyer area was next to unrecognisable! We therefore officially re-opened our doors in November 2003 with a bright new public area and a promise of good things to come. Although we expected business to be understandably slow after the asbestos incident, the outlook actually looked rosier than ever almost before the new season had begun. Bookings and enquiries came thick and fast, and the building enjoyed the busiest year in memory throughout 2004. Expecting this to tail off, we were again surprised, as those bookings continued to rise. They rose so high that there were probably only a half-dozen weekends throughout the whole of 2005 that weren't taken by an actual performance or the setup of the next show. And there have been quite a few weeks where we have hosted anything up to three completely different events in a single week! This about brings us up to date. 2007 was a hugely busy year and 2008 is looking to be even busier. And 2009 promises to be even more of a success! So, barring any further catastrophes, the future of the Abbey Theatre is looking pretty good indeed! Here's hoping that you can help us in some small way towards achieving that! Thanks for your time Tony Deeming |
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