Following the recent government guidelines, the committee of the Nuneaton Arts Council has taken the difficult decision to enforce the temporary closure of The Abbey Theatre to the general public as of Monday 16th March 2020, until further notice. As this is a rapidly evolving situation, we will be constantly reviewing this decision as and when new advice is provided.
The health and safety of our volunteers, user groups and patrons is our number one priority. We will continue to follow any recommendations from the relevant authorities and implement all appropriate instructions accordingly.
Advance ticket sales purchased through our online box office partner – Ticketsource – will be refunded automatically and we believe that Ticketsource will on this unusual occasion agree to refund some of the fees involved in such bookings although that much is outside of our direct control.
Advance sales paid for in cash will also be refunded to patrons. If you post your tickets to us at the address below with your return address and contact information we will arrange to either refund you by bank transfer or a cheque by return post.
Tickets you have purchased outside of the theatre’s own responsibility will be handled by the group directly involved.
We cannot at this stage offer alternative dates later in the year for events that have been cancelled but will look at the new season once the dust has settled on the crisis.
Please do keep checking our website and social media channels for the latest updates.
Thank you for your continued support and we hope to welcome you all back very soon!
This is a worrying time for the arts industry and as an independent charity we receive no regular public funding, relying on support of our audiences and donors to deliver our life-enhancing work both on and off-stage. The implications of this situation will be long-lasting for the Abbey Theatre volunteers, our wonderful industry and indeed the rest of the world.
We would therefore be hugely grateful if our affected customers would kindly consider an exchange or a donation of some, or all, of the cost of your ticket to support Abbey Theatre’s future. We understand that this is an extremely difficult time for many, and this option is not possible for everyone.
Updated 29/03/2020 – Craig Barnes
Welcome to the home of the Abbey Theatre, a volunteer run venue, which provides Nuneaton with its ONLY live public performance venue for drama, music, dance and a wide variety of other arts based events. The Abbey Theatre is managed by the Nuneaton Arts Council, a registered charity.
Seating 250 in our comfortable auditorium, plus space for wheelchairs/carers at the front, we have increased our choice of programming in the past 5 years to include professional touring acts, and even the odd celebrity. Nicholas Parsons, Honor Blackman and Jimmy Cricket have played here, as well as musical performances from Maddy Prior and StringFever.
In addition over the past few years we have started to run regular Movie Nights at the Abbey Theatre, with children’s matinees out of term time, and sing-a-long versions of classic movies throughout the year. We recently had the pleasure of hosting a viewing of Star Wars – Rogue One, whereby Nuneaton born director Gareth Edwards hosted a Q&A session which was live broadcast via Social Media.
Another successful venture is our regular Funhouse Comedy night which boasts 4 different professional stand-up comedians from around the country each time.
Our licensed bar area has a selection of real ales along with wines/spirits and soft drinks and of course the traditional ice creams and snacks.
Upstairs, our two rehearsal/meeting rooms are home to several local performing societies for rehearsals, and these can also be made available during the day for commercial bookings.
Open for 11 months of the year (closing in August for repairs and improvements) there will undoubtedly be something for everyone in our packed calendar.