The
Abbey Theatre & Arts Centre
|
|
|
|
The Future of the Abbey Theatre Last updated Spring 2005 A short article from the Chairman of the Nuneaton Arts Council How can one predict the future? The truth is, one cannot. What you can do, however, is look to that future and try to gauge where you might be in the years to come. For the Nuneaton Arts Council, that future is looking remarkably rosy. Since I grasped the reins of the NAC back in 1999 I've been able to say on more than one occasion that we've 'never had it so good'. That's not to say that we've not had our share of problems! Huge debt to begin with, low turnout at the box office and the recent asbestos debacle to name a few. But because of the hard work of many individuals and groups along the way, we've not only got past those difficulties, we've risen above them - time and time again. We have made the Abbey Theatre a place that people want to visit, to use, and enjoy doing so. We've improved the public face of the building, with continued refurbishment. We've upgraded the technical face of the stage facilities - new lighting and sound equipment - which means that our audiences can be treated to a more polished performance from the technical departments. And still we continue to make improvements. Look back at the annual programme for 1998 - we hosted a total of 15 events on our stage. Some were one night affairs, one or two week-long shows, and a couple of festivals. Looking forward to what we have programmed for 2005, there are a total of 45 events covering a massive 115 performances throughout the year! And we're STILL taking booking enquiries! So how are we planning to make 2005 an even better year than ever? Well, we are looking at how we can carry on with the physical improvements to the venue. The auditorium seating replacement project should be completed by the Summer at the latest. Another area in much need of attention is the first floor rooms. If we can secure enough funding, we would like to strip the Etone Lounge and create a more multi-functional space that can easily be used for small scale productions as well as the regular meetings and rehearsals. Similarly the face of the Milby Room is in dire need of a lift, so we'd like to give that some solid attention. There are always opportunities to improve upon the technical facilities that are available to our users. We have recently invested in our first intelligent moving lights for stage use, added to our smoke machine inventory and purchased a quality LCD projector. The foyer bar now sports 4 LCD screens onto which we can either display our future programme, advertisements and theatre information or, during live events, a real-time video feed of the stage. We hope to extend this to the first floor as part of the video network, so that when those rooms are used for additional changing space, the cast and crew can easily keep track of where they are in the production. OK - that's all well and good, but what else can we look forward to, you might ask? To be honest, one of the long term aims of the Arts Council has always been to investigate the feasibility of the construction of a brand new, purpose built theatre to serve the community. Why a new theatre? Well, whilst the productions we host are becoming more and more popular, the needs of many user groups are growing also. There are some theatre companies who feel that the stage is just too small, and the restrictions that come with that size for the more lavish productions and larger casts are just too great. There are touring shows that we could easily take on board in a venue with more seating capacity. And at the end of the day the current building is basically becoming too old and demands more and more maintenance each year. So one has to ask just how long can we continue where we are? Various options and opinions have been examined in the last few years, often as what some might call pipe dreams over a pint or two in the bar, but we are possibly now at the point in our history where the signs are in our favour and the portents fair for us to begin again to give credence to the possibility that we could indeed justify a bid for a new theatre and arts centre for Nuneaton. What do we need to achieve this lofty goal? Money? Well, I have always firmly believed that the right project managed and designed with and by the right people would have no problem securing sponsorship and grant aid - the money is out there, whether from the National Lottery or Europe or local/regional businesses. But what is it that makes a project stand out from the crowd? Support. Support from the user groups, the volunteers who work hard to maintain the bow wave of success, and support from the public, who justify our presence by their continued patronage. Without any or all of these, any project is doomed to fail. It is just that support which the majority, if not all, grant applications will seek to have petitioners demonstrate that they have, and one that I feel we can now do justice to! Our local borough council is spending a great deal of effort improving the town centre, and rightly so. There is talk of there being a brand new leisure complex being considered, which rumours say might include a new cinema..... So why not let us look at how we might turn that cinema idea into our 'pipe dream' and build the new Abbey Theatre instead? This is just one of the possibilities that the NAC is investigating in 2005, and one I suspect you'll be hearing more about over the next months. Thank you for taking the time to read this page. I hope to be able to keep it more updated as time goes on, so please keep checking back from time to time. Tony Deeming |
|
Send mail to
admin@abbeytheatre.co.uk with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
