The Orchard Theatre in Dartford has had a very challenging last few years, even more so than many regional venues, but with the support of Dartford Borough Council and the current long leaseholder Trafalgar Entertainment, it can now look forward to a bright future in 2025.

After the Government enforced closure of the venue for Covid from March 2020 until August 2021, it then faced another prolonged closure in September 2023 due to fears over Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in its roof.

Boldly, Dartford Borough Council took the quick decision to build a temporary venue to serve its local communities and the idea of Orchard West was born.

Construction began on 30 October 2023 and took just six weeks to complete, saving the pantomime for Dartford theatregoers, with Beauty and The Beast opening in the new venue on 9 December 2023. It will remain the home for the entire Orchard Theatre programme until 2025 when the maintenance of the Orchard Theatre will be complete.

Theatre Director, Tal Rosen, recalls the project to build Orchard West: “The project took three months from discovery of the RAAC, through design, procurement and build to the opening. It was a Council led £1.5m project showing that they recognised the importance of Arts and Culture for their local community. Without a Live Venue the High Street is just shops and restaurants, but those benefit from the venue which drives £4.5m of business into that area.”

He also added: “Having a temporary venue was vital to keep us connected to the theatre going and music loving community including the important Amateur Dramatic societies.”

Orchard West is just a stone’s throw away from The Orchard Theatre on the Westgate site in Hythe Street. The temporary venue has a capacity of 1,091. This December, it will stage Imagine Theatre’s pantomime Sleeping Beauty with Britain’s Got Talent winner, Sydnie Christmas as Fairy Christmas, and comedy duo Simmons and Simmons, which promises to bring this chapter of the venue’s history to a glorious Christmas-y close. The Christmas pantomime is a vital element of the programming and regularly sells over 75% of capacity over a run of thirty-nine performances from 14 December 2024 - 5 January 2025.

The Orchard Theatre was officially opened in April 1983 by the Duke of Kent and the first show was a gala performance hosted by John Inman from Are You Being Served? The first pantomime at The Orchard was Aladdin in 1982, starring Bernie Winters and his St Bernard dog, Schnorbitz.

The theatre was designed by the Building Design Partnership and was altered in 1989 when the Box Office and Bar were improved. In 2009, the Front of House areas were refurbished. The theatre's auditorium has two sweeping balconies with permanent seating, but the stalls seats in the auditorium fold back and move out, meaning it is possible to have one large flat-level space from the back of the stage to where the audience enter. This format is used for functions such as banquets for around 250 people and discos for nearly 1,000. The forestage can also be altered along with the 50-person orchestra pit. Though it was originally designed to hold 1,200, its capacity is around 1,000 seats. It is now operated by Trafalgar Theatres (the theatre division of Trafalgar Entertainment) under a 20-year lease which started in 2009.

The latest renovations to tackle RAAC have also allowed other improvements to be implemented. The venue is working to improve accessibility and green credentials for the reopening.

A full passenger lift is being installed to provide access to a new wheelchair platform in the Upper Stalls and solar panels have been installed on the newly repaired roof to help the decarbonisation of the venue. Plans to install new LED lighting will follow having seen the benefits of such equipment in Orchard West.

In the period from 26 December 2021 to April 2023 between the two enforced periods of closure, the venue held 335 performances with 215,000 tickets sold, plus events and community activities. The turnover was £4.5m and it made a healthy operating profit of £461k.

The operating model is a partnership with the Council who get a profit share from success, as well as the wider benefits to the local economy. That partnership extends to the venue acting as an Arts Hub running the annual Dartford Pride event and the annual Summer Youth Project. This year, around 100 local children performed on the stage, with others shadowing the technical roles to put on four performances of Bring it On at Orchard West.

2025 promises the return to a programme featuring a wide array of top-quality musicals, drama, comedy, dance, family shows, and one-night events, in addition to a world-class pantomime every festive season. Already announced are the record-breaking Rocky Horror Show and the magical The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Importantly, the venue recognises the value of the twice a year programme brochure in driving interest and bookings, alongside the traditional role of Box Office staff in being available every day to engage and connect with visitors to the theatre, or simply those passing from the train station and car parks to the High Street. It is these activities that keep it connected with the community and help support Dartford Borough Council in its goals of serving the residents and building the economy.

Nick Wayne

Nick has been involved in Producer and Venue Organisations for twenty-five years, seen over 1200 productions, visited over 160 of the UK Venues and invested in over 30 West End Productions