The Albany Theatre in Coventry is celebrating a decade of growth and development, looking ahead to a bright future.

In an extraordinary story, staff and volunteers have shown exceptional perseverance to run and develop a theatre for 10 years that now boasts record ticket sales and growing community engagement.

The Albany Theatre has been through its fair share of challenging times. The theatre was closed in 2008. However, since the re-opening of the theatre in 2013 a huge amount of improvement has taken place, and everyone involved is excited for the next stage.

Successes include:
- The launch of a Youth Theatre, and growth of creative outreach in city schools and the community.
- The creation of an inhouse productions company, Albany Productions, producing the hugely successful theatre productions such as A Christmas Carol.
- The growth in partnerships with local and national performers and promoters, including Ballet Theatre UK and Giovanni Pernice star of Strictly Come Dancing fame, who has performed six times at the theatre since 2017.
- Over 20 interns and apprentices launching careers in the Arts.
- 100s of volunteers have assisted with front of house duties and technical theatre production backstage.

This incredible transformation has been recognised by the West Midland Tourism Awards who have selected the theatre as a 2023 finalist in their Resilience and Innovation category.

The future is also bright due to the transformation taking place thanks to Coventry City Council’s capital funding. The redevelopment incorporates additional ground floor sections of the former college building and the courtyard. There will be a new studio theatre, two further studios, a café and larger foyer area, volunteer room, extra green rooms and new toilet facilities, including a changing facility.

The improvements will allow the theatre to open its doors to even more local groups and performers, playing a critical role as a creative hub in the city, enabling access to the arts for all.

Chief Executive and Artistic Director Kevin Shaw, said: ‘" am delighted to be celebrating this landmark in the Albany Theatre’s history. The current team are grateful to so many local people who gave their time and effort to get us to this point. The capital funding from the Council for this next chapter is going to make a huge difference, enabling more local community groups to use the spaces and engage with our arts programme."

To view upcoming shows and events, please visit: albanytheatre.co.uk