Councillor’s plea to the arts community

A COUNCILLOR who is standing down after 28 years on Warrington Borough Council has made a final plea to the town’s performing arts community.
Cllr Celia Jordan wants the borough’s singers, musicians and actors to put pressure on the council for a theatre to be included in the new £107 million plan for a 10-screen cinema in the town centre.
She believes one of the cinema spaces could be designed to double-up as a theatre.
Cllr Jordan said: “It is not a new idea – in fact there used to be lots of them. The Royal Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool has a screen that can rise from the floor when the orchestra is not playing and there is a tiny venue in North Wales which shows films and also hosts the Welsh Opera Company.
“There is never going to be enough money to build a purpose built theatre in Warrington, such as the Brindley at Runcorn.  But a theatre could be included in this new cinema at a fraction of the cost of building a stand-alone theatre.
“It could attract professional touring companies as well as provide a home for local amateur theatre groups.”
Cllr Jordan urges local theatre lovers to contact the borough council urging them to insist that the plans for the cinema include a theatre space.
“The more pressure is brought to bear the better – but we need to be quick because the final decision could be made as early as next week.”
Warrington has not had a purpose-built theatre since the privately-owned Crosfield Theatre was demolished nearly a quarter of century ago.
The Parr Hall is not considered suitable for major theatrical shows because of restricted back-stage facilities so the town’s major amateur theatre group – the Centenary Theatre Company – stage all their productions at The Brindley in Runcorn.