1,800 seats play host to concerts, musicals, opera, ballet, ice shows, stand up comedy, and children’s shows throughout the year at the New Theatre. The programme features some of the biggest acts touring the UK, and shows direct from the West End. Visits by Lee Evans, Sugababes, Ricky Gervais and The Mighty Boosh sold out almost immediately.
The Theatre is situated on George Street, right in the centre of town, with the main entrance accessible from Victoria Court. The Box Office is open from 10am-6pm Monday to Saturday and staff can take your bookings and help with enquiries. Booking fees don’t apply when you book in person (credit card fees apply to some performances). Most shows offer concessions for children, students, senior citizens so that as many people as possible can enjoy the entertainment on offer.
When attending a performance you can also purchase sweets, ice creams, programmes, and sometimes show merchandise from the theatre foyer. There are also bars selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks including tea and coffee.
A theatre visit often makes a great night out for a group of people, whether it’s family, friends or even a work outing. The Theatre offers fantastic discounts and benefits if you book 10 tickets or more. Most shows offer reduced-price tickets for groups, and the Theatre has a dedicated phone line and team to help you with your group booking. You can reserve tickets whilst you go away and collect monies from your group, and make changes to your booking as you need. You can still save even if there isn’t a special group rate, as there are no booking fees on group bookings!
Club Lounge or Stalls Bar are also available to hire for pre-show and interval entertaining, making it ideal for corporate events.
Despite being built in 1933, the New Theatre is easily accessible for people with reduced mobility. There are reserved spaces for wheelchair users and their companions in the stalls, with a lift to take you to the seating level and path to a wheelchair accessible toilet. Monitor screens are placed in front of the wheelchair spaces so that if the people in forward rows stand up, you can still see the action on the stage. The Theatre also aims to offer Sign Language Interpreted and Audio Described performances for select productions during the year. These are subject to availability of the interpreters and whether it is practical for the show. The Front of House staff are also on hand to assist in any way they can.
A huge development for 2008 has been the installation of air conditioning inside the auditorium for the first time in the theatre’s history, helping to keep the auditorium at a more comfortable temperature for audiences throughout the year. At time of writing, the installation was underway.
