User:Trinitytheatre

Trinity is a vibrant theatre located in a beautiful building in the heart of Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Trinity is a converted church, combining the benefits of an architectural landmark with modern interior facilities. Trinity has always been active within the local community and is a key contributor to the vitality of the region. The theatre itself runs a packed programme of Drama, Dance, Music, Comedy, Film, Children’s Theatre and Visual Arts, previously collaborating with giant names such as Steven Berkoff, Maria Friedman, Michael McIntyre and The Royal National Theatre. Seating around 300, Trinity hosts approximately 350 events every year ranging from the best in theatre and dance through to the biggest names in comedy and music. With some 90,000 people coming through its doors each year Trinity is acknowledged as one of the leading venues in the South East. Alongside a dynamic programme of participation for young people, which includes the Trinity Youth Theatre and a Summer School for 8-15 year olds, Trinity strives to make the arts accessible to all whilst providing a creative hub for the local community.

Although Trinity receives a generous contribution from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Kent County Council amongst others, Trinity is a registered charity and a great deal depends on the contributions of it's dedicated volunteers.

History

Holy Trinity was the first Parish church of Tunbridge Wells. It was designed by Decimus Burton (1800 - 1881), the noted architect of famous London buildings such as the Hyde Park Screen, the Constitution Hill Arch, and the fine villas of Calverley Park and Calverley Park Crescent. Holy Trinity was built to meet the needs of the growing population of Tunbridge Wells, which, developing as a residential town, had doubled in size in the preceding twenty years to about 2000 people. The subscription list for the new church was led by Lord Abergavenny and a major part of the cost (£10,591) was met by a grant from the Church Building Commissioners under an Act of 1818 'to provide new churches in new and growing towns'. This possibly influenced Burton's choice of the Gothic architecture style for its construction and the locally sourced sandstone for construction materials. The Holy Trinity Church held it's last public service in 1972.

Change and Development

The fight to save the building

In early 1974 Holy Trinity Church was declared 'redundant to pastoral needs' by the Church Commissioners. In May 1975 the Commissioners published a draft 'redundancy scheme' for Holy Trinity's demolition. As a result residents of Tunbridge Wells raised a petition and public meetings were held. The protest was successful in persuading the Church Commissioners to grant the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society one year from October 1975, to find a suitable community or public use for the church.

The Civic Society proposed to restore the building and convert it into an Arts Centre. This was approved by the Commissioners providing they were satisfied with its economic viability. As a result of this an Appeal Committee was formed in order to raise £50,000 in six months and in January 1977 the Church Commissioners accepted the viability of the scheme and a lease was granted by the Diocese of Rochester. 

The battle had been won but the war was yet to begin. It took 5 years to transform the empty, neglected church building, complete with dry rot and damaged masonry into a vibrant theatre complete with raked seating and the necessary licenses fit for public performances. The traditions of the organisations which had put up the accepted community use scheme were associated with voluntary work. It followed naturally that restoration and conversion would be in the hands of volunteers, too; and so would running the arts centre when the time came. Some work, for instance, dealing with the outside stonework, had to be done by professionals. For this the funds that had been raised and the grant from English Heritage were used, but the concept and design work needed to create an arts centre from the shell of a listed building and the labour-intensive task of clearing the building were in the hands of the few dedicated volunteers.

Then by most fortunate chance, a volunteer came forward, who had previously worked in building design and in the theatre. Herbert Story, a man with a vision of what Trinity Art Centre could be and how to get there was appointed manager in late 1979. The first actual conversion work, getting down to the foundations to build the supporting walls for the auditorium, began early in 1980.

Through 1980 and 1981 building students form West Kent College built the main auditorium, the labour of the project being funded at no cost to Trinity.

They later built fine staircases as well. Volunteers obtained seats from disused cinemas in the region. The Manpower Services Commission took over when the students stopped and carried on with the stage, construction of the foyer, offices etc. The hardcore of the volunteers pressed on with every kind of DIY, and with communications, fundraising and publicity etcThe first two week season was launched in the summer of 1982. In 1983 there were shows during nine months of the year. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council regarded the growing enterprise with favour and gave £15,000 towards conversion of the building. Heating was installed, and the gallery was opened, concentrating on regular exhibitions by contemporary professional artists. In 1984 a bar license was granted. South East Arts (now Arts Council England South East) awarded Trinity a grant of £10,000 towards operational costs. The Arts Centre was run entirely by volunteers and finances were balanced to secure the future of Trinity. Maintenance and restoration of the building remains a demanding responsibility. In 2000 the building was surrounded by scaffolding whilst work was carried out on the stained glass windows as well as the clock tower, this work was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. An application was made to the National Lottery in October 1995, for £600,000 worth of internal improvements including a new computerised box office, new seats throughout, and a new access ramp for wheelchair users. The grant was approved in March 1996, and Trinity reopened in October 1996: 10,000 people came through the doors in the first two weeks.

Recent and present productions

Notable performers include Comedians: Rory Bremner, Lee Evans, Jack Whitehall, Danny Bhoy, Stephen K Amos, Jo Caulfield, Andy Parsons, Michael McIntyre, Russell Howard, Rich Hall, Jim Jeffries, and Andy Hamilton.

Music: Maria Friedman

The Surroundings

The Trinity Theatre is one of many of Tunbridge Wells’ tourist attractions. Others include the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre, the Pantiles and the Salomons Museum. On site at Trinity as well as the Theatre Bar, there is the Divinity Cafe which provides an nagreeable and popular meeting place.

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