It’s curtain up for town’s new theatre

A NEW fringe theatre is to open in Weston-super-Mare in a bid to make the arts more accessible to the community.

The Front Room is to open in an empty unit at Dolphin Square, with the curtain going up on its first performance later this month.

The new venue is the brainchild of actors Emma Keaveney-Roys and her partner Adam Fuller, who both live in the seaside town.

The pair secured funding from the Arts Council to help with the set-up costs of the new initiative.

The theatre will operate a “pay what you can afford” ticket policy. The idea initially is to run shows but plans in the longer term include opening up the venue as a meeting place for artists to network and run workshops.

Emma said: “We thought there was a need for more independent theatre in Weston. There are so many local performers coming out of the college and university centre and we wanted to provide a place for them to experiment and provide shows which are accessible to all.”

The first show will be a Christmas adult comedy called Me Monster, which opens on December 16. The show is being put on in partnership with From the Mud, a collective of performers from across the town.

The family show Much Ado About Puffin by the Open Attic Theatre, which Adam helped set up, will also be taking to the boards of the new fringe theatre from December 17 to December 23.