Plans are being developed to significantly improve the facilities at Derby Theatre, making a better experience for you; our audiences, participants and communities, and enabling us to welcome even more of you to the venue in the future! The redevelopment will include a brand-new Studio Theatre and a new and improved learning space as well as updates to our front of house areas and the fabric of our building, making us more welcoming, environmentally friendly and efficient.
We need your help to make Derby Theatre: New Horizons happen. Your support will help us to ensure that we can keep being the theatre that your city deserves for the next 50 years and beyond.
You can donate today, or if you would like to know more about ways to supporting this ambitious redevelopment project please contact Iain Hayes, Executive Director at NewHorizons@derbytheatre.co.uk.
Derby Theatre is thrilled to have been awarded a £10 million grant from the Department of Levelling Up to support this project, recognising the vision of Derby Theatre which places civic engagement and learning opportunities alongside high quality entertainment for residents. The project is also being generously supported by the University of Derby, but we still have a long way to go to achieve our aims.
Derby Theatre is approaching its milestone 50th Birthday, having stood on its current site since 1975. Our beloved venue holds special memories for people of all ages who have shared experiences within its walls over the last half-century; audiences, performers, young people, community members, staff, supporters, and visitors – they all have a story to tell.
Sarah Brigham (CEO and Artistic Director, Derby Theatre) said:
“This funding will allow us to secure the next 50 years of high quality theatre in our city. We welcome nearly 100,000 people a year through our doors to see shows and 25,000 to take part in workshops and learning activity, so we are delighted that we will be able to use this funding to offer an even better experience to our customers and encourage more people to visit us for the first time.”
/"Derby Theatre has quietly and doggedly rethought the role of how a regional theatre operates in its local community and how to make what it does really matter."Theatre critic Lyn Gardner
/“Few theatres are as sure of their civic purpose as Derby Theatre… it has signposted the way for others in creating a theatre that is genuinely connected, local and networked.”The Stage