Newcastle cultural venue reopens following seven-figure transformation

Following a £2.4m investment and an eight-month wait, a much-loved cultural venue is set to re-open with a host of events and activities over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Gosforth Civic Theatre (GCT), which first opened its doors in 2016 in a former council building in the heart of the community close to Regent Centre, has undergone major refurbishments that have seen it transformed into a modern, accessible community-focused venue for the people of Newcastle and beyond.

The venue will reopen on Friday August 25, with a performance from stand-up poet, BBC radio regular and northern treasure Kate Fox, with her show ‘Bigger on the Inside’.

Then on August 26, visitors to GCT’s improved Café Bar can indulge in a brand-new menu served from its revamped kitchen and deli while taking in Curious Arts’ outdoor performance piece Wildflower from its freshly landscaped courtyard and community garden.

Inside a new Community Studio will be a craft room, while on the theatre’s new stage, audience members will experience the venue’s investment in lighting and sound as Voices of Virtue Gospel Choir leads a programme of performance and live music, including pieces from young musicians and Liberdade, a learning disabled theatre company.

Rob Huggins, GCT’s chief executive, commented: “Gosforth Civic Theatre is an amazing social enterprise; when you buy tickets to a performance, hire us to host your beautiful events, or visit us to enjoy our hospitality, we use the money you spend to provide opportunities for young people with and without learning disabilities and autism.

“From our experience, if we told you the truth about why Gosforth Civic Theatre exists, you probably wouldn’t believe us; there is a group of people with learning disabilities who set up and run a theatre company called Liberdade. In 2012 they decided they wanted to open a theatre at which everyone was welcome.

“They wanted to have jobs in their theatre and to provide the opportunities they’d had for other young people, so that is what we did, and that’s how Gosforth Civic Theatre came to be.

“This journey to get to where we are makes GCT unique. Add to that a governance structure that empowers and gives a voice to both people with learning disabilities and young people, and you have a cultural building that can create real social change in a community. We think people can sense that when they come and visit us.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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