SPOTLIGHT ON… Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
Photo credit: Rebecca Wallis
In today’s Spotlight article, we’re back in the Midlands to visit the lovely Stafford Gatehouse!
Name: Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
Location: Stafford, Midlands
Number of seats: 535
Year opened: 1982
Located within an hour of Birmingham city centre, the Gatehouse Theatre is described as the jewel in the crown of Staffordshire’s beautiful county town. The building it calls home was originally opened in 1877 as Borough Hall and over the years, it has been used for civic meetings, reading rooms, a library, a museum, and the local seat of government. It officially become the Gatehouse Theatre on 27 January 1982.
It has two performance spaces: the main auditorium which can sit up to 535 people, and the MET studio, an adaptable space with a capacity up to 140. The Gatehouse hosts a range of touring and in house productions, including big name acts and top touring companies alongside local talent and summer school shows and cinema. The Writer’s Room, perfect for smaller meetings and presentations, also homes small exhibitions and displays, and during the day the theatre doubles as a coffee shop offering drinks and snacks in its beautiful cosy setting, making the building a hub for both creativity and the community.
For 30 years, the Stafford Gatehouse has been well renowned for its prestigious annual Stafford Shakespeare production, which has seen a Shakespeare show staged in the grounds of the town’s historic castle. This year, due to the ‘significant cost and financial risks’ of holding the event in the grounds, the decision was made to move into the Gatehouse itself. A Midsummer Night’s Dream brought thousands into the town. The theatre was brought well and truly into the spirit of things, decked with fairy lights and flowers for the duration of the show’s run.
Upcoming productions at the Gatehouse Theatre include performances from Ed Byrne and Miles Jupp, musical tribute acts and the classical family pantomime Beauty and the Beast.
For further information or to book tickets, please click here.
