This weekend sees the inaugural events at The Marlowe Theatre. The splendid new building, designed by the award-winning Keith Williams Architects, now houses two new spaces with The Main Auditorium and The Marlowe Studio.
The Main Auditorium now holds up to 1200 people in luxurious comfort with much improved acoustics and a closer view for all the patrons. The Marlowe Studio seats 150 and will offer comedy nights, music gigs and innovative theatre productions. The space can also be expanded to provide a workshop area for up to 300 people. In addition to the main spaces there are spacious foyers with bars and amenities on all three floors, plus a riverside café and terrace.
Three days of street arts, live music, dance, workshops and theatre performances will kick off this Friday. An early evening mix of dance and street theatre will take place in and around the building, featuring Loop Dance Company and others curated by the Performing Arts Network Kent.
Then on Saturday, free live music from a wide range of musicians will take place outside the theatre and across the city, in addition to Chalk Giants, a telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk tale with a difference in The Marlowe Studio, and in the evening Stephen Merchant performs his stand-up show Hello Ladies in The Main Auditorium.
Sunday will be a special day of outdoor family fun. As well as face-painting, story-telling and puppetry, there will be clowning and urban art workshops.
TV megastar Rastamouse, along with Scratchy and Zoomer from The Easy Crew will make appearances throughout the day. For those of you unfamiliar with this phenomenon, follow this link.
All in all it should be a fantastic start to another era of entertainment in Canterbury with The Marlowe Theatre opening its doors once again to brighten up your life with astonishing acts and terrific productions. Let the fun commence!
