Marina Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Marina is a theatre
and cinema
in Lowestoft
, Suffolk
originally opened in the Victorian era. The venue has an auditorium seating 751. It plays host to celebrity touring acts, films and runs its own production company known as The Lowestoft Players.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been resident at The Marina since 2005 and the theatre has seen performances by acts such as comedians Michael McIntyre
and Ken Dodd
and actor William Roache
. Actor Owen Woodgate was booed on stage whilst playing Prince Charming in Cinderella
following derogatory remarks he had made about Lowestoft on Twitter
.
. It was closed in 1984 and eventually purchased by Waveney District Council in 1988. It reopened in October, 1988 almost four years after its closure.
The theatre was threatened with closure again in 2010 due to financial pressures on the council. In March 2011 the council handed over management to the Friends of the Marina Theatre for a period of 15 years whilst retaining ownership of the building. A charitable trust will run the theatre from July 2011 once trustees have been established. A total of £150,000 will be paid by the council to support the change in management for 4 years.
Theater (structure)
A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...
and cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
in Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
originally opened in the Victorian era. The venue has an auditorium seating 751. It plays host to celebrity touring acts, films and runs its own production company known as The Lowestoft Players.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been resident at The Marina since 2005 and the theatre has seen performances by acts such as comedians Michael McIntyre
Michael McIntyre
Michael Hazen James McIntyre is an English stand-up comedian. He is well known for appearing at many British stand-up comedy events and for several roles on television stand-up programmes such as Live at the Apollo and his own show, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow...
and Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
and actor William Roache
William Roache
William Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...
. Actor Owen Woodgate was booed on stage whilst playing Prince Charming in Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
following derogatory remarks he had made about Lowestoft on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
History
The Marina began life as a skating rink and was converted to a theatre in 1878 by architect R.F. Brett. In 1901, architect Ernest Runtz was hired to rebuild the theatre, using parts of the existing structure. The Marina was largely rebuilt once again in 1930 by architect Francis Burdett, and re-opened as a cinema by Associated British CinemasAssociated British Cinemas
ABC Cinemas was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. A wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation , it operated between the 1930s and the late 1960s...
. It was closed in 1984 and eventually purchased by Waveney District Council in 1988. It reopened in October, 1988 almost four years after its closure.
The theatre was threatened with closure again in 2010 due to financial pressures on the council. In March 2011 the council handed over management to the Friends of the Marina Theatre for a period of 15 years whilst retaining ownership of the building. A charitable trust will run the theatre from July 2011 once trustees have been established. A total of £150,000 will be paid by the council to support the change in management for 4 years.