We are delighted to share the news that Dorset Council has awarded the Marine Theatre a grant to support our creative work for the next three years. Dorset County Council’s Organisational Support Revenue Fund is available to cultural organisations based in Dorset. This funding will help to support the many creative projects we offer at the Marine. In particular, the Marine Youth Theatre which welcomes over 80 local children and young people, aged from 3yrs – 18yrs, to the theatre every week. It will also help to support our Senior Creatives programme which offers monthly singing and dancing for older people.

We are actively looking to widen access to young people from diverse backgrounds in our creative engagement opportunities. We will do this by investing in our ambition to encourage more participation in the Marine Youth Theatre and technical skills training sessions. As well as providing cultural activities for our Lyme Regis community, this funding will enable the Marine to lead creative programmes further across Dorset. We have already started to reach out to areas where there is little access to culture. This financial security now allows planning to start on a series of out-reach projects to bring communities together and promote social well-being for some of the most vulnerable members of our Dorset communities. 

Gabrielle Rabbitts, Director of the Marine Theatre said that ‘this funding really will make a positive difference to the quality of life of so many people and I would like to express heartfelt thanks to Dorset Council for the support of our work. The Marine has created many ways to welcome people of all ages to join in with creative activities and build their own theatre community. I am very much looking forward to seeing our community grow with an increased range of events at the Marine as well as helping other areas, especially children and young people, to enjoy the benefits of building their own theatre communities’

The Oyster & Fish House Lyme Regis is pairing up with the theatre for very special offer! The Oyster & Fish House is arguably the most picturesque spot in Dorset to enjoy locally sourced fish and seafood. Patron of the Marine and the owner of this Lyme Regis gem Mark Hix is frequently lauded as one of Britain’s most eminent restaurateurs with an unrivalled knowledge of ingredients with provenance.

Marine theatre tickets holders can now enjoy a fantastic two course pre-theatre meal for under £20 or an unforgettable 3 course meal for under £25. This deal is only applicable on the Marine’s evening events and you must bring your Marine Theatre ticket confirmation to access this offer.

Below are some words from Su who will be running this exciting summer season of plays.

Hello. My name is Su Gilroy, and I’m bringing a 3-week season of 3 plays to the Marine Theatre this August. The plays have not yet been announced (as they’ve not yet been decided!) so watch this space. From what I’ve found out so far, there was a rep season here back in the 60s, but there’s been nothing since. If anyone has any more information about that, or remembers it at all, I’d be really interested to hear about it – click here to contact Su.

Why do I want to bring rep to Lyme Regis? Well, for one thing, Lyme Regis is such a beautiful place, and who doesn’t want to spend their summer in a gorgeous town on the amazing Jurassic coast? Although, actually, I love rep and would do it anywhere! In fact, I have done rep in Torquay, Swindon, Wolverhampton, Redditch, Crewe, Billingham and Sidmouth (some of which could not be called beautiful!). It’s hard work, as we’ll be doing a different play each week, but it’s great to bring a number of
traditional rep plays to a community in a short period of time – I love standing in the foyer as people leave, and listening to them talking about the play they’ve just seen, sometimes comparing it to the play they saw last week, or wondering what parts members of the acting company will be playing next week. Pablo Picasso said ‘The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls” and I think theatre is a great way of doing that.

I also wrote my dissertation on rep – specifically the sort of commercial rep that would have been in Lyme Regis in the 60s. I was looking at reasons for its decline and hopes for its future, and spent a lot of time researching the history of rep. You’d think that would mean that I could tell you exactly what ‘rep’ is but, alas, I can’t, as it’s meant different things to different people at different times. It’s been able to
survive because it has always adapted. However, I did find that there were several things that all reps had – popular plays, reasonable prices, a company of actors for the season, and the desire to be part of the community. Those are all the things I want to bring to the Marine Theatre this summer.

I interviewed a lot of people for my dissertation, and I asked them why they thought rep was important, and I quoted their responses: “…they felt it fulfils many good functions: it entertains, it gets audiences interested in theatre, it brings people together in a community, it provides an apprenticeship for actors by allowing them to perform in a large variety of plays and to learn from an audience, it maintains and
augments the repertoire of plays.” I do hope that you’ll agree with them, and come and support the rep this summer. I look forward to seeing you!