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New Theatre Peterborough prepares to reopen with support from £250,000 Arts Council Grant

New Theatre Peterborough prepares to reopen with support from £250,000 Arts Council Grant

New Theatre Peterborough

Peterborough’s New Theatre is pleased to confirm it will reopen from 17th August 2021 following over a year of closure due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Selladoor Worldwide, one of the country’s largest touring companies, and operators of the Peterborough New Theatre, as well as Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple and The Landmark Ilfracombe, welcome the news that they have been successful in a new project grant bid from the Arts Council, which will provide the New Theatre with a £250,000 grant to continue to support arts and culture within the Peterborough region.

The grant bid was supported by Peterborough MP Paul Bristow, who was instrumental in getting the funding application to the Arts Council.

The New Theatre is of great value to the audiences of Peterborough and protecting this local entertainment hub is vitally important to maintain essential access to the arts. The grant helps to secure the venues long-term future, offering a vital lifeline in its roadmap to recovery.

Selladoor Worldwide’s first six months of opening The New Theatre saw the venue grow from strength to strength, and the team are now ready to rebuild on this momentum. There is already a fantastic programme of events on sale; from music to musicals, comedy to drama, dance, family entertainment and a brilliant variety of music events!

The New Theatre are pleased to open up their doors from the 17th August when it hosts a summer rep season with plays; California Suite by Neil Simon and Spider’s Web by Agatha Christie. The 2021 Autumn/Winter season continues with a selection of comedy giants, offering laughter-filled performances from acts including Frank Skinner, John Bishop and Jimmy Carr. Based on Hasbro’s popular board game, September brings a visit from Clue The Musical. In October, the fast-moving, hard-hitting political English thriller Dead Lies, by best-selling crime writer Hilary Bonner, performs at the New Theatre, in a roller-coaster ride of a play, packed with twists and turns until the very last scene.  Amber Davies and Peterborough’s very own Louis Smith join the cast of Bring It On in November as the smash hit Broadway Musical back flips into Peterborough before its London transfer. And, this year’s family friendly pantomime will take you on a magical ride with Aladdin from the 11th December.

David Hutchinson CEO of Selladoor says “We are absolutely delighted to be able to officially announce the reopening of the New Theatre in Peterborough on 17-August, where we will be hosting a summer rep season of two excellent plays – California Suite by Neil Simon and Spider Web by Agatha Christie. After a year of closure, we are thrilled to finally throw open our doors to audiences to come back to enjoy live entertainment. This was made possible by a significant grant from Arts Council England to support the theatre through the summer to reopening.”

“I want to thank my incredible theatre team in Peterborough who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes during the toughest year of our careers. I also want to thank Paul Bristow, our MP, who worked very hard to highlight the importance of the New Theatre for Peterborough and throw his weight behind our successful bid. Finally – I’d like to thank Rinaldo Fasulo, our landlord, who has been so supportive of us and the theatre – and it’s long-term success by supporting Selladoor through a tough year, and the Dawe Charitable Trust for their continued support. We hope audiences will come back and support their local theatre – as we have something for everyone at the New Theatre!”