The Galleon - Portsmouth's Official Student Newspaper

The Theatre Royal on the main Guildhall Walk strip, walked passed by students everyday and probably ignored for the likes of Walkabout or Yates, is getting a new £4 million redevelopment.

The New Theatre Royal will be a modern home for the arts, a 700 seat venue, with a much bigger stage and with improved backstage facilities. The redevelopment will involve building on unused land at the back of the Theatre, known as the back-lot.

There will also be a 150 seat studio, to be used by smaller community productions, and to showcase some of The University Of Portsmouth’s finest talents!

The project altogether is planned to cost more than £20 million, with a very large contribution of this from the University itself. The initial fundraising campaign to raise the £4 million will begin with the Theatres ‘Let’s make it great’ weekend where there will be theatre-based outdoor events and performances for everyone to enjoy. This will run in January on the weekend of the 15-17th.

Theatre director Caroline Sharman says: “The plans will allow the Royal to continue to complement the bigger Kings Theatre at Southsea in the service it provides, including art-hours films and local rock bands.”