New studio theatre for a Hastings "bursting with creativity"

SussexWorld

Hastings White Rock enters a new and exciting era with the launch of its refurbished and rebranded studio space, Studio 27.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Exciting

00:06times at White Rock Theatre in Hastings. Goodness, you've got your own studio. You've

00:10had it for a little while, but just coming up to the official launch. Lovely to speak

00:15to venue director Nadine, and it's Studio 27. Now that is significant in itself. That's

00:21a little nod to the centenary, isn't it?

00:24Yes, it is. It's a little nod to our 100-year anniversary coming up very soon and celebrating

00:30100 years of live entertainment.

00:33Absolutely. And you've got big plans for when that happens, haven't you?

00:36We've got very big plans. I'm already working on it.

00:38Fantastic. But in the meantime, tell me about the studio space and what does it give you?

00:45So it's brilliant. It used to be used as a community hall space for some of our youth

00:50groups. But in the last year, we've completely renovated it to a black sort of box studio

00:54space. So it's got a brand new sound system in there, new staging. It seats 200 people,

01:00300 standing, new digital screens, brand new kitted bar. So it's a really exciting space.

01:06And it's on the lower level underneath the main auditorium.

01:09So it sounds like the ultimate in versatility then. You can do pretty much what you want

01:13in there.

01:14Yeah, you can. And, you know, I say 200 seating, but we've had all sorts of configuration.

01:18You know, we can do cabaret in there. We do things in the round down there. So it's a

01:22really versatile space, as you'd expect from a black box studio. You know, the options are

01:26limitless.

01:27And part of the point of it is it's artist development, isn't it? It's the shows that

01:31are not at the point where they can go on the main house stage.

01:34Yeah, you know, we really, it's a platform for new work. It's also just sort of trying to

01:39diversify our programme. You know, there's a lot of people in the town that, you know, we

01:43have a thousand capacity venue, but a lot of people aren't at that point. And so it's

01:47to be able to also bring in the work that's at that sort of more beginning stages as well.

01:52But also, you know, just for upcoming comedians, upcoming, you know, artwork. It's a really

01:58exciting platform to be able to just sort of support those artists and collaborate on

02:03new projects. They're excited.

02:04Absolutely. And the timing, again, with that centena in mind, just couldn't be better,

02:08could it, really?

02:09Not really. It's brilliant. And it's just great to have an extra space in the building

02:13that's alive and buzzing. And we've got, you know, even further plans to diversify. And

02:18just, you know, we want, you know, we're not afraid to offer something new in the town.

02:22We think there's not as many small capacity venues here. And we want to, it's not sort of

02:27nodding away from the quality of the work down there. It's brilliant. You know, it's the highest

02:31quality. It's a great selection. And we're encouraging people to engage with the programme

02:35down there.

02:36So obviously high quality, but you can take a bit more of a risk, can't you, presumably?

02:41Yeah, of course, with a smaller capacity. It is about that. And it's a collaboration,

02:45you know, we're working with people on those deals and making sure that it works for everyone.

02:50And yeah, it's an exciting space. The quality of the sound system and everything down there

02:54means that it can be a really, you know, a quality offering, but it is new work. And for

03:00people that are excited to something new.

03:02That sounds fantastic. Congratulations on pulling it off. And looking forward to chatting

03:07a lot more as we get closer to that centenary. Nadine, thank you so much.

03:13Thank you, Phil.

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