Crown Wharf Theatre seats

Crown Wharf Theatre opening has been delayed

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We’re very sad to be bringing you news of a delay to the opening of Crown Wharf Theatre.

This unexpected delay is due to a technical issue related to planning. Unfortunately, we’re not yet certain how long a delay may result; however, we no longer expect to open this year. As soon as we’re given a clear path to the new opening date, we’ll ensure you’re informed as soon as possible.

Despite the delay to our plans, we’ll be cracking on and completing the internal works as planned so that we’re ready to open when the time comes. We also hope to get building the ambitious set we’ve got planned for Shakespeare in Love (our in-house opening production).

Rehearsals were well underway, but we’ve had to pause them for now until we know more. Our fabulous cast have been very understanding, so it would be great for them to continue rehearsing on the actual set once we have the green light and can get going again.

In recent weeks we’ve also been running a lot of sessions for volunteers interested in being part of Crown Wharf Theatre once we’re up and running. One advantage of the delay is the additional time available for training sessions and test events in the space to get us all up to speed, so we’ll be busy working away in the coming months to ensure we’re as ready as we can be for the big opening.

To all those who’ve attended a recent recruitment session, we’ll be in touch shortly with further details.

As ever, we’re incredibly grateful to the whole community who have rallied around this project, be that volunteering, donating, sponsoring or expressing their interest and excitement at using the facility once open.

Crown Wharf Theatre truly is a labour of love and, as we all know, “the course of true love, never did run smooth”.

Crown Wharf Theatre to OPEN 
in October with ‘Shakespeare in Love’

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Crown Wharf Theatre will be opening in October with an in-house production of ‘Shakespeare in Love’, the hit stage adaptation of the 1998 Oscar-winning romantic comedy.

Tickets for this historic production will go on sale in the summer, when we’ll also be announcing the full opening programme, featuring plays, pantomime, stand-up comedy, cinema, music and more.

Open auditions for ‘Shakespeare in Love’

We’ll be holding open auditions at the theatre for ‘Shakespeare in Love’. We’re looking for actors, singers, dancers and musicians for the first ever production at Crown Wharf Theatre. If you want to be the first to tread the boards at our professional-standard theatre. Check out the audition details here.

Get involved backstage or front of house

Training events will be held over the summer for the dozens of amazing people who’ve put their names down to volunteer at the theatre in front-of-house and backstage roles. If you want to get involved but you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time. Fill in our volunteer form here.

Want to hire Crown Wharf Theatre for your show?

As we start to put together our full opening programme, we’d love to hear from you if you want to stage your production, show or event at the theatre. There’s more information for hirers here.

Crown Wharf Theatre trustee Harri Capernaros, who’ll be directing ‘Shakespeare in Love’, says: “It’s been an epic journey getting to this point and we can’t quite believe that, from October, the theatre will be full of people enjoying local shows, music, films, touring professional productions and more.

“It was important to us that we kick things off at the theatre with an in-house production open to all, and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ is perfect. It’s a true celebration of theatre and it shows the ups, downs, disasters and blind optimism that’s required every time a bunch of people decide to put on a show, never mind decide to build a theatre. This theme suits Crown Wharf Theatre so well. It’s a project that’s always seemed so unlikely and we’ve been faced with so many hurdles and setbacks. Yet somehow, after lots of hard work, community support and unwavering persistence, we find ourselves preparing for our first production.”

Agenda comedy club in Stone, Staffordshire

Introducing The Agenda – our new comedy night

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Following on from a succession of sell-out comedy nights in 2022, Crown Wharf Theatre would like to introduce ‘The Agenda’.

The Agenda will be in session for the first time in 2023 on Friday 10 February in The Boardroom (upstairs in the Joules Crown Wharf Tap House.

Tickets are £10. Book yours now!

On ‘The Agenda’ on Friday 10 February:

  • Meeting Chair: Andy Kind (MC)
  • Opening statement: Craig Deeley
  • The February Report: Sarah Johnson
  • Closing summary: Clayton Jones
  • Any Other Business

The Agenda organiser Dave Patrick says: “We want the club to be a place where artists and acts are welcomed, feel secure in their performing space so that they can deliver their sets to enthusiastic, open audiences. In a way, we expect that audiences who come to The Agenda have this contract with their comedians. That’s hopefully going to be our blueprint for success.”

Tickets for The Agenda are £10. Book yours now!

Other Agenda dates for the rest of 2023 are:

  • Friday 14 April
  • Friday 9 June
  • Friday 11 August
  • Friday 13 October (surely not unlucky?!)
  • Friday 15 December
Crown Wharf Theatre Stone Staffordshire

Paint party weekend – thanks for your help!

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Volunteers came armed with rollers, brushes, paint trays and community cheer to help us get the painting of the theatre under way in August.

We made great progress in the auditorium, which means we’re on target to hit our deadline of getting everything ready for the installation of the seating bank and flooring in September. The back-of-house ceilings also got the royal mist-coat treatment.

A big thank you and shout out to everyone who volunteered at our paint party weekend. It was so great to meet you all and we hope you agree that the venue is really starting to take shape – and we hope the thank you BBQ on the Sunday hit the spot.

We made a great start over the two days but there are still many walls in need of some colour. Keep an eye on our website and socials for the next paint party that’s coming soon – we’ll definitely need your help again!

Crown Wharf Theatre Stone Staffordshire
Crown Wharf Theatre Stone Staffordshire
Outdoor space more fit for purpose (in this case feeding our Paint Party volunteers after a weekend of hard work).

Help us paint the theatre! August 6 and 7 with BBQ

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We need you to pick up a paintbrush for the Crown Wharf Theatre on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August to help give our auditorium and back-of-house areas their first lick of paint.

We’re getting the painting done before the installation of our seating bank, scheduled for the end of August, as the auditorium and the whole theatre gets ever closer to opening its doors. See the latest photos inside the theatre

But we can’t do the painting alone (it’s a BIG space) – so you’re cordially invited to the CWT Paint Party Weekend! Time: 10am – 4pm (Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 August)

Join us for an hour, an afternoon or the entire day or days. Whatever you’re able to do will make a difference.

Please bring along your own painting equipment (paintbrush, roller,  tray etc) and remember that the theatre is still very much a building site: facilities are limited, so come prepared. There is currently no easy access to running water, so used equipment will need to be bagged and washed up at home.

Our thank you BBQ!

As a thank you to everyone who gets involved, we’ll be running a BBQ on the Sunday at 1pm on site for all those that have pitched in over the weekend. The menu will be burgers and veggie burgers, but feel free to bring something else along if you have any further dietary requirements.

RSVP: It would be great if you could let us know if you hope to join us on Saturday AM, Saturday PM, Sunday AM and/or Sunday PM, so we have an idea of numbers. Please RSVP to our volunteers coordinator Dawn – dawn.bailey@crownwharftheatre.org.uk

We have light! Work’s progressing well in the auditorium

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With the back-of-house areas progressing nicely, work in the auditorium itself has now got under way!

The back of house areas are fully boarded, plastered and we can even switch the lights on! The toilets are nearly completed and a central heating system goes in at the beginning of July. We’re now starting to think about all the fun stuff – paint colours, dressing room tables, mirrors…

At the same time, work has finally begun in the auditorium.

In May our two lighting grids were assembled, hoisted up and attached to the ceiling. The space instantly became more like a theatre, and we could finally rig up some working light and illuminate the space for the first time. It was quite a moment.

Since then, the pace has been relentless.

We’ve made some crucial adjustments to ensure the space is accessible for everyone. Then came some specialist fire-resistant paint to keep things safe. And cables, hundreds of metres of cables! As you can imagine, a theatre needs all sorts of power, lighting, sound and data cables buried in the walls, and this was done by other competent professionals and some very willing volunteers.

Getting the cables in meant we could finally put in all the soundproofing, plasterboard and plaster finish required. The demands of keeping sound out, and sound in, are significant – and not easy when we’re neighbours to a particularly popular pub! So we’re going belt and braces and thinking about some testing to see where our leaky bits are (so to speak) and improving them.

We’ve selected our contractors for the raked seating bank and the huge sprung timber floor, and these two massive pieces of the puzzle will be completed by the end of August (all things being equal).

So, when might the theatre be open?

In summary, your future theatre has come a long way in recent weeks, and it’s a question of WHEN we’ll be ready to open now, not if. So when might that be? We have a couple more funding bids in the pipeline and hope to hear in the autumn. It’s hard to be more definite with so many variables – funding, contractor waiting times, supply chain issues etc – but the official line at the moment is: “Maybe this year, definitely next year!”

Spitfire Group flies even higher in support of Crown Wharf Theatre

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The Star of Stone Spitfire Group has further increased its generous support for the Crown Wharf Theatre.

The Spitfire Group aims to keep the story of the Star of Stone alive and to celebrate the huge community effort in the town that delivered the plane. In 1942, a Spitfire was donated to the war effort after the people of Stone raised £5,000.

The Spitfire Group had already made both the Spitfire and its pilot, Flt Lt Karl Jacobsen, Gold Founding Partners in the theatre.

This prompted four members to become Bronze Founding Partners themselves: Geoff Berriman, project leader; Gillian Weldon, chief admin officer; Peter Williams, IT officer; and Mark Wilson, group member and principal engineer at EleV8aviation.

In addition, the Group’s Canadian Wing decided to become Bronze Founding Partners. And the Russell family followed suit and decided to make John Russell, Spitfire Group project manager, and Noreen Russell, Group chaplain, joint Bronze Founding Partners.

Spitfire Group project leader Geoff Berriman said: “Crown Wharf Theatre is a tremendously important artistic development for the town, which includes a strong strand of its local history. Our Project of Remembrance for our Spitfire and its pilot fits into this perfectly. We have been able to make a substantial contribution to the funding of the Theatre. In return we have a permanent presence for the Star and all who flew with her. We could not hope for a better project to support, so we are now looking for ways to extend it even further.”

Leo Capernaros, Crown Wharf Theatre trustee, said: “We’re so proud to be backed by The Star of Stone Spitfire Group. Their generous support is helping us to push the project further towards completion. We’ve been so fortunate, right from the beginning, to have so many people stepping forward and backing the theatre. From individuals helping at our fundraising events, to businesses donating their time and expertise, to organisations like The Star of Stone Spitfire Group becoming founding partners, getting the theatre open is a real community effort.”

A ceremony was held at Crown Wharf in June where Leo Caperanos, Crown Wharf Theatre trustee, was presented with the cheques.

Crown Wharf Theatre Joule's takeover

Another theatre takeover at the tap!

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On Easter Saturday (16 April 2022), Crown Wharf Theatre will again take over the Joule’s tap in Stone – and this time the kids are in charge!

Young people from Stone’s Rooftop Theatre and Musical Youth Theatre Stafford will be performing between 2pm and 6pm – upstairs in the pub’s meeting room, and in the theatre bar.

2pm: Rooftop Studios will be dazzling us with song and dance in the upstairs meeting room

3pm: Rooftops will then move down to the theatre bar to continue their showcase with some more sparkling performances

4pm: Musical Youth Theatre Stafford will be giving us a preview of their production ‘Wind in the Willows”, as well as some old favourites from their repertoire

The event is free of charge – although we will be collecting donations for the theatre project. Join us for an hour or for the whole afternoon – we’d love to see you!

Star of Stone Spitfire Group Crown Wharf Theatre

Spitfire Group DOUBLES its support for Crown Wharf Theatre

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The Star of Stone Spitfire Group has increased its support for the Crown Wharf Theatre.

In February, the Spitfire Group became a gold founding partner of the Crown Wharf Theatre, with a seat in the auditorium to be dedicated to the Star of Stone Spitfire. The group also presented a painting of the Spitfire by artist Charles O’Neill to the theatre.

The Spitfire Group has now decided to increase its support for the theatre through an additional gold founding partner sponsorship, this time with the seat to be dedicated to the pilot of the Star of Stone, Flt Lt Karl Jacobsen. The group recently presented a photograph of Flt Lt Jacobsen to the theatre to mark the additional gold sponsorship.

Geoff Berriman, group leader of the Star of Stone Spitfire Group, said: “The Spitfire Group could not have found a better project to support than the Crown Wharf Theatre. We have over 80 members who have made an enormous contribution to our project and we hope to make this enthusiasm and commitment available to Crown Wharf Theatre in whatever way we can. When the theatre opens its doors, it will be an incredible addition to the cultural life of the town. We wanted to ensure that there will be a gold founding partner seat in the auditorium for both the Star of Stone and its pilot.”

Leo Capernaros, Crown Wharf Theatre trustee, added: “We’re so proud to be supported by The Star of Stone Spitfire Group, and I’d like to thank the group for their continuing support. Getting the theatre open is a real community effort, and the support of community groups, individuals and businesses is vital to the success of our project.”

The auditorium at Crown Wharf Theatre

Work moves into the auditorium

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Things are progressing nicely with the Crown Wharf Theatre project as we move ever closer to getting the building ready to open its doors for the community.

At the end of last year, the Crown Wharf Theatre Charity received a £75,000 grant from the Community and Environment Fund. After starting work on the back-of-house areas last year – which is progressing nicely – we’re using the Community and Environment Fund grant to move our efforts into the auditorium, which is incredibly exciting!

The grant will fund the octagonal lighting grid, sprung timber flooring, sound equipment and acoustic treatments. Work is getting under way on this soon and we’ll keep you posted on progress.

If you’d like to volunteer with Crown Wharf Theatre, please complete this short form. We’ll need lots of extra help as we begin work in the auditorium and when the theatre opens its doors!