Funny, witty fabulous family show, the old theatre has tons of interesting history, just like the old girl she is it is a little dated and tatty around the edges but that adds to her charm , if we do not keep going to these productions and support the eastbourne heritage , it will be pulled down or turned into flats which would be a crime, so the theatre isn't the most up to date but don't let that pit you off just sit back and watch some theatre and let the future generations enjoy the entertainment

A lovely old theatre. A great atmosphere with friendly staff. Treasure Island by Wicked Productions was a joy. Such fun in a wonderful little theatre. More shows here please.

A super family show in a beautiful theatre. Staff so very friendly and courteous. Lovely experience!

What a fantastic show for children and parents I would recommend this show for everyone well done!!!

It was very funny, entertaining, well done. Colourful, well written
And it made us all laugh. The actors did well.

Great lively show and very funny also my son enjoyed it and laughed all the way through me and my son also went to the Christmas cracker show which we both enjoyed too :)

My daughter was in this so naturally I am biased towards thinking it was fantastic. I hadn't realised that this gem of a theatre was even here.
Don't let the outside deceive you,it is in need of desperate funding to enable it to remain open,yes it is a bit shabby but staff,mainly volunteers I believe, do their best.
The seating is great,it is all on a rake so god views where ever you sit.I will be seeing other productions here in the future and I wish it success.

After being lucky competiton winners, we attended 2 brilliant shows this week, at the fabulous Royal Hippodrome Theatre. First of all, I would like to stress that I am hugely ashamed that we have never been to the hippodrome before (although we are local). It is an absolute gem of a theatre and thoroughly deserved to be saved from rack and ruin!
The 1st show we saw Hooray for Hollywood, I have to say I was sceptical about seeing and taking my 4 yr old daughter to see. I couldn't have been more wrong!!!! We had an absolutely fantastic time, toe tapping and singing all the way through. Grant was fantastic as compere and multi talented with his singing and dancing. My daughter was delighted with all the dancing and the funny man (Renato). Renato did a great job as Charlie Chaplin and has all laughing hard. He is amazing at the aerial silks and his stunts were breathtaking. This is a thoroughly enjoyable show for all ages which I recommend everyone to see asap.
Today, we saw our 2nd show at the hippodrome which was Treasure Island. This had some big names in the form of Dani Harmer (Tracy Beaker) and Chris Edgerley( Hi-5). As having children ranging from 15 to 4 I know these names well from TV programmes,. The set, cast, music were all amazing but the best part was seeing the absolute hilarity of Jolly Rogers Hawkins! He had the entire audience (and cast I might add) in the palm of his hand throughout the show. It was filled with hilarity and I have never laughed so much in my life! The children were all very professional and performed to a high standard as did the rest of the cast. It is hard to find something that my entire family will enjoy together but this certainly proved a hit. Every one of us was in fits from start to finish and we cannot wait to come and see another Wicked Production show at the hippodrome.
Well done to everyone involved in both of the shows.
Lastly, I would like to add that everyone who works at the theatre are volunteers and they are all kind, helpful and obviously enjoy being there.
My congratulations to everyone who keep this theatre up and running and you will see us at another of your shows very soon x

A beautiful old fashioned theatre with charm. Unfortunately the matinee audience was small for some excellent local acts paying tribute to the fallen of WW2.

I hadn't visited Eastbourne for a few summers, but returned this year and having been to the Hippodrome in the past, I booked to see the variety show Hooray for Hollywood. I thought it was going to be a professional show, so was disappointed to discover that it was all amateurs. Perhaps I should have realised when there were no star names on the poster. The performers certainly put a lot of energy into it, but it was a show that definitely needed better direction and much better choreography - and it would have been worth spending some money to have professionals do this. The director clearly had little idea of staging or how to position people on the stage. So many items almost worked, but not quite. The choreographer clearly devised just one dance routine per song and had everyone on stage doing exactly the same steps. Watching dancers doing the same thing in unison each time gets very monotonous and it needed some imagination.
The set was very lacklustre for a show of that title, which suggested glamour and glitz, and a lot of the movie clips weren't even Hollywood films....it made me feel that where there was time to fill, the director just put in some more film clips, whether relevant or not..
The compere certainly tried hard and I so desperately wanted him to be good, and yet each time it didn't quite work. And the John Inman walk combined with the Frank Spencer facial expressions got a little tiresome after a while....and so many of the gags were of the, "oh come on, laugh, I'm trying my best here" type to lower the audience's expectations, as if to say, "we're only amateurs, so it doesn't matter" - but the ticket prices aren't that cheap and people expect to see a good show.
So overall I felt very disappointed. It had so much potential, but for me it just didn't work. It's a lovely old theatre and it looks like a fantastic programme of shows coming up, so it's a shame that the summer season lets it down. Maybe next year it can return to a proper, professional variety show?

Good views from most seats and some signs of refurbishments in the stalls and the circle, the upper circle seemed a bit forgotten and cramped, with signs of wear and tear. (Maybe a financial issue)

Plenty of character and will not hesitate to come back for other performances.

Lighting and sound of great quality.

All staff and volunteers encountered were very friendly, helpful and professional with a vast knowledge of history and up and coming events. A real credit to the Royal Hippodrome Theatre.

Went to see Chas & Dave at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre. Staff were extremely helpful and friendly throughout the evening to ensure visitors had a pleasurable time. The building is very old, which added to the ambience of the night.

We saw Chas and Dave in this intimate oldie worldie theatre ( but with all modern conveniences). Guaranteed a good view whatever seats you have. Parking can be difficult but if you get there early as we did you can park right outside and nip round the corner to Crown and Anchor pub which serves good food.

Excellent performance, good view and sound. Friendly ambience. Comfortable seats. Well staffed throughout

We have visited the hippodrome several times. It is a blast from the past. The decor is dated - which is actually quite charming! However the seats are so close together that you find yourself knocking knees with the person next to you ! This is fine when it is a Chas & Dave Evening which was great as the 'lads' were in fine form and everyone in the audience joined in. It felt that as though we were all in an old time music hall. On the down side the loos could do with an uplift/revamp to make the best of the area ! The staff are always friendly and obliging. We have now booked to see the Kinks and are looking forward to it.

The Royal Hippodrome Theatre is lovely old theatre. You can see the stage from all seats, the atmosphere is intimate and the acoustics are what you would expect from purpose built, over 100 year old theatre. The staff are very friendly and helpful. I would definitely recommend seeing one of the variety of performers/shows there.

Came to see Chas and Dave. The seats were extremely small and uncomfortable with absolutely zero leg room. And the
seats we booked were to high

Have visited The Royal Hippodrome on many occasions and always get a warm welcome. It is a lovely old theatre with a great atmosphere. The shows are always good value for money.

OK ish, all the old favourites but too loud & distorted so words couldn't be heard. Perhaps this was worse where our seats were, upper circle, but in that case the seats should have been cheaper, they were too close to the price of front row stalls. Very tatty decor and seats.

True professionals, great musicians, well worth going!!!!
Nice to see a group not full of themselves. I would recommend to all age groups.

Fantastic night. Great entertainment and lovely atmosphere in this wonderful building. Better than London's West End. Praise and thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who worked so hard and of course Chas, Dave and Nick. Brilliant

Lovely old fashioned theatre with good seating (think you would have a good view of the stage wherever you sat) and run by very helpful volunteers. Yes it's a bit tired (clean but in need of some refurbishment) but having seen three shows there now it definitely doesn't disappoint - seeing Treasure Island in a few weeks which looks to be an amazing show.

Wonderful to go to a genuine old fashioned theatre ,with boxes,stalls balcony and footlights all in a colourful and ornamental setting.

I visited here for the first time to see "Dirty Dusting". The show was absolutely hilarious, but the experience was helped by the lovely intimate setting.
We sat in the stalls and there were not many rows, so even if you had been near the back you would still have enjoyed the show.
The staff are fabulous here. They are all volunteers and give their time to keep this treasured theatre going.
Before the show we wanted to order a bottle of wine, but they only had a price list by the glass. So the lovely lady behind the bar arranged a deal for us.
I loved my experience here and can't wait for the next time I come back to this theatre.

Last Tuesday my wife and I were fortunate to be invited to the Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne to see a performance of Hooray for Hollywood which is on every Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the summer at 8:15pm up until 8th October.I am familiar with the other two theatres in Eastbourne (the Devonshire Park and the Congress) but had never been to the Royal Hippodrome Theatre.

It’s a delightfully intimate theatre having been built in 1883 and is run largely by volunteer staff who are all very enthusiastic, efficient and helpful. Over the years many stars have appeared there including amongst others Harry Houdini, Marie Lloyd, Elsie and Doris Waters, Tommy Trinder, Vera Lynn, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Ken Dodd, Roy Hud and Bruce Forsythe

Unfortunately the theatre had seen better days and in 2008 Eastbourne Borough Council regained control of the theatre and it is now operated by the Royal Hippodrome Trust with a view to operating the theatre as both a community venue and professional theatre

Hooray For Hollywood promises to take you on a spectacular journey through the movie musicals - from the innocence of the silent era movies with Charlie Chaplin, right through to the modern day blockbuster. Trapdoor Productions along with Cirque Du Soliel performer Renato Pires will entertain and enthral you with a mix of song, comedy and dance. -.

The cast is made up of professional and amateur performers (and I use that term in it’s strictest sense in that they don’t earn their living in this way, it’s not a comment on their professionalism). The younger members of the cast come from the Rattonian Theatre School and they are excellent featuring quite often during the first half of the performance.

All the song and dance numbers are performed with gusto where appropriate and the slower solo numbers sung beautifully. The show is hosted by Grant Martins and I thought that was going to be his role all evening but buy the end of the first half you will realise that he is that rare commodity a song and dance man that can deliver a good (and occasionally not so good joke). I have to say that although I felt some of them a bit cheesy the audience loved it.

It’s a great nights entertainment and suitable for all ages. It’s wonderful to have a bit of variety and the addition of the acrobatic scenes involving ropes and silks by Renato Pires (I would have called them scarves but was corrected by my wife who knows a bit about things) along with the comedy and song and dance makes for a very enjoyable evening.

At times I felt it almost had an end of the pier revue feel about it and what’s wrong with that in an English seaside town. If you live near Eastbourne or are holidaying in the area then it is definitely worth taking time out to go and see it and the bar prices are the most reasonable I have been charged in a long time for a very large glass of wine.