History
Tobacco was the main industry in South Bristol from the beginning of the twentieth century and at its peak around 40% of the local workforce worked in the Imperial Tobacco Factory. The relocation of Imperial Tobacco in the 1980s was devastating to the local area, causing massive unemployment and deprivation. The Tobacco Factory building itself fell into disrepair but was renewed from the late 1990s when George Ferguson acquired the building, inviting Show of Strength Theatre Company to use part of the first floor as a theatre space. The building became a mixed-use cultural space with a café-bar and a 250-seat studio theatre, under the name of Tobacco Factory Theatre.
In 2005 the Tobacco Factory Theatres became a charitable trust and in 2007 it became a Key Arts Provider of Bristol City Council. [6] It has expanded since 2008. It now has two auditoria (the Factory Theatre and the Brewery Theatre) and two rehearsal spaces. It has made capital improvements, including the installation of a renewable energy system. The theatre regularly attracts national critical acclaim. [7] [8] It has strong relationships with many individual artists, with venues and with theatre companies. It is particularly well known for productions by Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, inhouse family-friendly productions and a comedy line-up, as well as classic and contemporary theatre, dance, puppetry, film, opera and music. [9] The theatre was redesigned in 2013 and has become one of the UK's few Theatre-in-the-Round auditoria, increasing the maximum seating capacity to 350, with improved comfort and sightlines. The theatre can still be used for end stage and thrust stage performance.
The current artistic director is Mike Tweddle, appointed in 2016. [10] [11]
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a financially independent organisation in the 1990s. Bristol Old Vic runs a Young Company for those aged 7–25.
The Legacy Centre of Excellence is an intercultural arts centre in the Newtown area of Aston, Birmingham, England.
Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a specialist art bookshop and a café bar. Educational activities are undertaken and experimental digital media work supported by online resources. Festivals are hosted by the gallery.
The Tobacco Factory is the last remaining part of the old W. D. & H. O. Wills tobacco factory site on Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol. It was saved from demolition by the architect and former mayor of the city George Ferguson and through his vision has become a model of urban regeneration. It is now a multi-use building which houses animation and performing arts school, loft-style apartments, a café bar, offices and a theatre.
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Stan's Cafe is a theatre company based in Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a long track record in producing experimental theatre, installations and live art. Established in 1991, it has become "one of Britain's major contemporary theatre exports" with an "international reputation" for devising and touring powerful and "unusual performances." It has been regarded by some critics as "one of the UK's most innovative and exciting theatre companies."
Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC), also known as the Canberra Theatre, is the Australian Capital Territory’s central performing arts venue and Australia's first performing arts centre, the first Australian Government initiated performing arts centre to be completed. It opened on 24 June 1965 with a gala performance by the Australian Ballet.
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Ashton Gate is a suburb of Bristol, United Kingdom, in the Southville ward of Bristol City Council. A toll house at the western end of North Street still survives and indicates the origin of the area's name as a gate on the road to Ashton. Once part of the estate of the Smyth family of Ashton Court, the area had ironworks and collieries in the nineteenth century, also a tobacco factory and a brewery. There is still some manufacturing industry and retail parks and in 2003 the Bristol Beer Factory recommenced brewing in the former brewery site. Ashton Gate railway station closed in 1964.
Show of Strength Theatre Company is a Bristol-based theatre company which has produced new and forgotten works since 1986 in a range of venues in Bristol and the South West. The company is funded by Arts Council England and Bristol City Council but also relies on individual and corporate sponsorship. They have produced over 60 plays and established several new performance venues including the Showboat pub (Horfield), the Hen and Chicken pub (Bedminster), Quakers Friars (Broadmead), the Tobacco Factory (Southville) and Paintworks. The company has received many awards for its work, including the London Weekend Television Plays on Stage award and the Guinness/Royal National Theatre Pub Theatre Award. As well as plays Show of Strength have produced numerous play readings and writing workshops. Although based in Bristol the work of the company has received regular attention from the UK national press.
Andrew Piers Marsden Hilton is an English actor, theatre director, and author best known for the creation of the Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory company in Bristol 1999 - 2021.
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Artrix is an arts venue in Bromsgrove, England, located on School Drive just outside the town centre. The building was constructed between 2004 and 2005 on a green field site sold off by the Heart of Worcestershire College Bromsgrove campus in 1999 and the Bromsgrove 'Blue Light' centre.
Spike Island is an international centre for contemporary art located in Bristol, UK.
Saikat Ahamed is an English actor and writer based in Bristol. He is best known for his role of Vince Arya in Monday Monday.
Factory International runs Manchester International Festival and operates Aviva Studios, a cultural space in Manchester, England.
Katy Stephens is a British actress and former children's presenter. She has appeared in leading roles with Shakespeare's Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company with whom she is an Associate Artist. She played Nicky in London's Burning, and was a co-presenter on The Fun Song Factory in the 1990s.
The Rose Theatre is an arts venue and Category B listed building on Rose Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, owned by ballet dancer and Olivier Award winning director Peter Schaufuss and is as a year round venue for theatre, comedy, music, dance and cabaret. It is also the home of the Rose Theatre Cafe. The venue is playing a major role during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
