The Bacon Theatre is a medium-scale venue on the site of Dean Close School, Cheltenham. The theatre provides a teaching and leisure resource for the school as well as being available to hire for local community groups and providing a full programme of professional events. [1]
Originally named The New Theatre, the 566-seater venue was opened on 29 October 1991 by the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire; Colonel Sir Martin Gibb . The architect, Richard Slawson, also designed the Edwards Building at Dean Close, consisting of a large dining room and classroom complex. Both buildings featured high sloping wooden roofs, unique at the time of building. The financing of the whole project, some £2 million, was partly funded from the sale of land; partly from careful housekeeping and partly by an appeal. Many local people, including staff and parents of Dean Close, donated sums or items towards the project. Notable donations include the Waterford chandelier hanging in the 'Orangery' (the theatre foyer), the marble floor and a Steinway concert grand piano. The 'Orangery' was named after the special orange trees originally grown in the space.
The first production to take place in the New Theatre was Twelfth Night by Dean Close scholars in November 1991. Directed by the head of English and Drama, Peter Cairns, the production continued an old school tradition by including two members of staff in the cast, Richard Taylor as Sir Toby Belch and Lloyd Allington as Malvolio.
Towards the end of 1994, the BBC's Any Questions? was broadcast from the New Theatre. The team comprised Baroness Shirley Williams, the Rt Hon. Tony Benn, MP, the Rt Hon. Michael Howard, MP, and Anne Atkins, journalist, broadcaster and a Dean Close parent. The show was hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby. [2]
In 1998 the theatre took on the name of Dean Close's headmaster, Christopher Bacon on the occasion of his retirement. [3]
The theatre is equipped to present small and medium-scale theatre productions, live music, full-scale ballet and films. Performers such as the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Joe Pasquale, [4] Derren Brown and Vienna Festival Ballet have appeared at the theatre in the recent past. The theatre is home to the Cheltenham Film Society who present a season of films between September and April each year. [5] The theatre has hosted events for the Science, Literature and Music Festivals which form part of the Cheltenham Festivals. The theatre and other facilities onsite are home to the European String Teachers Association's summer school, The Cheltenham Recorder Festival, The Cheltenham Rock School and the World Youth Guitar Festival. [6] A number of local community groups hire the Bacon Theatre including:
The Bacon Theatre administrates the Open-air Theatre Festival at the Tuckwell Amphitheatre each year. The Tuckwell Amphitheatre is a stone-built open-air venue built in the 1930s, [13] and is currently licensed to hold 300. The Open-air Theatre Festival was piloted in 2004 and is held over two weeks in July and August each year. [14] [15] Regular contributors include Miracle Theatre, [16] Peter Gill, [17] Jenny Wren Productions, Rain or Shine Theatre Company [18] and The Pantaloons. [19]
Gloucestershire (, ; abbreviated Glos. is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.
Gloucester is a cathedral city and district in Gloucestershire, of which it is the county town, in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, 19 miles (31 km) east of Monmouth, and 17 miles (27 km) east of the border with Wales. Including suburban areas, Gloucester has a population of around 150,000. It is a port, linked via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to the Severn Estuary.
Cheltenham is a large spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716.
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Newent is a market town and civil parish about 10½ miles north-west of Gloucester, England. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, and estimated in 2018 at 5,050. Once a medieval market and fair town, its site had been settled at least since Roman times. The first written record of it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book.
The University of Gloucestershire is a public university based in Gloucestershire, England. It is located over three campuses, two in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester, namely Francis Close Hall, The Park, Oxstalls and The Centre for Art and Photography being near to Francis Close Hall.
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Gloucestershire Airport, formerly Staverton Airport, is a small airport at Churchdown, England. It lies 3.5 nautical miles west of Cheltenham, near the city of Gloucester and close to the M5 motorway. Its operator claims it to be Gloucestershire's largest general aviation airfield, and it is regularly used for private charter flights to destinations such as Jersey and Guernsey.
Dean Close School is a co-educational day and boarding private school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest private land area in the town. Pupils may be enrolled as young as 3 in the pre-preparatory school, and continue through to 18 at the senior school. The Headmaster of the Senior School is Bradley Salisbury. Dean Close is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Stagecoach West is the trading name of Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company Limited, a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset and Herefordshire, in the west of England. The company is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group.
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Chosen Hill School is a large co-educational academy school in the village of Churchdown in Gloucestershire, England, between Cheltenham and Gloucester. It is also a Beacon School. The school was mentioned in 2008 in The Daily Telegraph as being the most over-subscribed school in Gloucestershire. In June 2009, It was recognised by Ofsted as an Outstanding School. The school has a large Sixth Form, with many students going on to Higher Education, many Russell Group universities.
Gloucestershire College, abbreviated GC or Gloscol, is a college of further and higher education in the county of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.
Scouting in South West England is about Scouting in the official region of South West England. It is largely represented by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
The Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union is the union responsible for rugby union in the county of Gloucestershire, England and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union. Formed in 1878, it has won the county championship on numerous occasions.
All Saints' Academy is in Cheltenham, England.
The Gloucester Citizen is a local British weekly newspaper covering the areas of Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean. It was a six-day-a-week newspaper until it went weekly in October 2017. The Gloucester Citizen is headquartered at Gloucester Quays along with its sister newspaper the Gloucestershire Echo. Its current editor is Rachael Sugden.
Goodnight Mister Tom is a play by David Wood, based on the children's novel of the same name by Michelle Magorian. The play earned the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards.