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21
Apr 2023
Sell out performances mark reopening of Pateley Playhouse
The Pateley Playhouse has opened its doors to sell-out performances after three years of renovation work.
The amateur-run theatre has seen a £120,000 re-vamp, opening up its foyer and bar area and installing a disability lift in the auditorium.
The theatre re-opened this week with a Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society adaptation of ‘See How They Run’ by Philip King.
The play is a farce set during the Second World War and involves an escaped German prisoner of war, lots of vicars and lots of silliness.
The production has seen standing ovations with the 72-seat theatre full every night.
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The renovation was complex as the tiny venue is 160 years old.
Fundraising required creative ideas: the downstairs wooden floor was divided up into 110 square metres and the society asked people to pay £10 to sign their name on the floor — Hollywood style — under their square. The squares sold out.
Making a tiny, provincial theatre commercially viable isn't easy but the society believes the renovations will help its long-term financial position.
Treasurer Keith Burton said:
For the first time in years the society has had to put its tickets prices up. But it's now confident that if it puts on three productions a year, it can make enough money to survive and have a small surplus to invest in the theatre. Improving the sound system and lighting is next on the agenda.
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