Jubilee Theatre, Gosforth, threatened with closure
| Published: 1st September 2008 19:44 |
The curtain may be coming down on the First Act Theatre who perform at the Grade 2 listed Jubilee Theatre inside St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth. The drama and training group for young people is being threatened with eviction as the present Mental Health Trust wants to close the theatre and use the space for other purposes.
Famous names such as Ant and Dec, Jill Halfpenny, Donna Air, Lynne Wilmot, Dale Meeks (Emmerdale), Katherine Monaghan (Footballers Wives) and Cheryl Tweedy (Girls Aloud) have been among the 3000 young people aged 7 to 19 who have received training in drama and stage management over the past 16 years, attracting nearly 60,000 people to the shows.
The First Act Theatre has put on performances since 1992 in the the Jubilee Theatre inside St Nicholas' Hospital main building. The Group was invited by the former Mental Health Trust to bring the beautiful and historical theatre back to its original use, as it had fallen into disuse and disrepair.
Click here for the history of the Jubilee Theatre.
Fawdon Councillor David Faulkner has been on the board of First Act Theatre for the past ten years and said, "This will probably signal the end of the theatre group as well as the end of the Jubilee as a functioning theatre".
Click here for information on the Campaign to save the Jubilee Theatre.
What do you think?
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
