Theatre Business Breakfast Attracts Potential Partners

Backstage tour with Kevin Shaw, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at the Albany Theatre Trust. Photo courtesy of The Albany.

Local businesses and community leaders flocked to The Albany Theatre to hear exiting new plans at a business breakfast hosted on Friday 16 June. The visitors witnessed first-hand the progress of the £3m development works at this iconic Coventry cultural venue.

The Albany Theatre is looking to grow support from businesses and develop partnerships to help bring their Arts for Life vision to fruition in this exciting next stage. The Albany Theatre started life as part of Coventry Technical College in 1935. It survived the 1940 Coventry Blitz and became one of the first two theatres in the country to host a repertory theatre company supported by the new Arts Council in 1945. It closed down when the College moved across the city in 2008, but, rescued by a passionate team of volunteers, it is now well on the way to securing a secure financial future – but there is more to do to get over the line.

The new developments, opening in phases between September and December, will create two dedicated studio theatres, two further flexible spaces, a new café/bar and improved audience and community facilities.

The theatre successfully fought closure in 2020 before winning a grant of almost £3m from Coventry City Council. With the new facilities will come expansion of their learning and participation programmes, which will play a critical role as a creative hub in the city, enabling access to the arts for all.

Outdoor site tour. Photo courtesy of The Albany.

Kevin Shaw, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at the Albany Theatre Trust, said: “This next chapter is going to be thrilling. We attract tens of thousands of theatregoers and engage with many more thousands of local participants, including over 4,500 children and young people who perform on our stage every year. Support from local businesses is invaluable to us and them. Partnerships and sponsorship is mutually beneficial, particularly for local businesses that want to make a difference.”

For more information visit www.albanytheatre.co.uk