Officials at a popular theatre are celebrating after receiving a series of small grants that have helped to fund some much needed developments.
The Players Theatre, on Battery Green Road in Lowestoft received a £4,920 grant from the Theatres Trust and combined this with £2,500 from The Suffolk Community Restart Fund to progress plans for the venue.
The monies have been used for a "knock through" from the theatre bar to the main auditorium, through a previous archway, with a specially made set of soundproof bi fold doors being installed.
Graham Jermyn, from the Players Theatre who applied to the Theatres Trust for the grant, said: “The idea of carrying out the knock through has been around for some time.
“Thanks to the Theatres Trust and the Suffolk Community Restart Fund we have finally been able to implement our plans which will allow our patrons to enter and leave the auditorium with more space around them.
"The original entrance often created a bit of a bottleneck, and this was of particular concern following the pandemic.”
Ryan Takman, who manages scheduling at the theatre, said: “The new doors are fantastic as they create more flexibility.
"Last weekend for our comedy night, theatregoers were able to enter through the new doors which were then closed for the performance.
"On Saturday, November 13 the doors will be kept open all evening for our guest performers Let There Be Rock – an AC/DC tribute act.
"This will allow everyone to enjoy the music throughout the evening, even when they pop to the bar to refill their glass.”
With the Players Theatre owned and operated by The Lowestoft Players, the work had to be scheduled between the Players’ rehearsals for their production of Joseph and live shows with audiences - while the doors could also not be ordered until the knock through was complete.
So a temporary sound proof partition was installed while the doors were being manufactured, which was in place throughout the show run of Joseph, but it was taken down immediately after the final performance on Sunday, October 11 with the doors installed the following day.
The Players Theatre has also received a grant of £1,900 from the Adnams Community Fund which has been used to purchase a glass washer for the bar.
Visit www.playerstheatre.info to find out about forthcoming events.
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