ToSC | |
 The Theatre of Small Convenience | |
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| Address | Edith Walk Malvern, Worcestershire United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°06′43″N2°19′47″W / 52.11194°N 2.32972°W |
| Owner | Malvern Hills District Council |
| Designation | World's smallest commercial theatre |
| Type | specialist, puppetry. exhibition space |
| Capacity | 12 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | November 1999 |
| Rebuilt | = |
| Years active | 18 |
| Tenants | |
| The Theatre of Small Convenience CIC | |
The Theatre of Small Convenience is a theatre on Edith Walk in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England.
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In 2002 it entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's smallest commercial theatre, seating up to 12 people. [1] It is less than half the size of the previous record holder, the Piccolo Theatre in Hamburg, Germany. [2] [3] The theatre looked like it might close on 25 February 2017 when Dennis Neale retired. Warwickshire College Group took over the lease in (April 2018) for a brief period. After a fire caused by a dehumidifier it was closed, after the pandemic Malvern Hills District Council (the owners of the building) took back possession.
A new group The Theatre of Small Convenience CIC have now been identified as the new custodians of the building. They are embarking on a fundraising campaign to restore the interior and complete other structural work needed to enable the theatre to open again to the public for performances.
The theatre is featured in a recent publication entitled Twenty Theatres You Should See Before You Die by Amber Massie-Blomfield. [4]
The theatre is located in Edith Walk, Great Malvern. Local puppeteer Dennis Neale started work on the theatre in 1997, [2] opening for the first show in November 1999. [5] The theatre's name comes from the building's original purpose – it was converted from a derelict Victorian gentlemen's public convenience. It is trapezoidal in shape, 16 feet (4.9 m) long and from 6 feet (1.8 m) to 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. [2]
The theatre regularly hosted puppetry, often created by Dennis himself, along with offerings by professional and amateur actors, drama, poetry, storytelling and opera, and became a regular venue of the Malvern Fringe Festival. In 2005 the theatre was chosen as one of the venues for an international puppetry festival. [6]