Brighton is known across the country as a loud and vibrant cultural creative hub, both thanks to the artistic spirit of its diverse residents and dynamic theatre community. Creativity breeds creativity in this city and has given way to a thriving local and not-for-profit theatre scene.
Alongside renowned theatres, performance venues and art centres are tucked away in all sorts of places. If you’re a theatre-lover or blossoming creative, Brighton is the place to be. Jump in the car or hop on one of the regular trains to the city to see the performance of a lifetime.
Historic Venues
This city by the sea is home to some iconic performance spaces that have been the host of countless major national and local productions. This includes the Hippodrome – the UK’s most architecturally significant circus theatre. Located pride of place on Middle Street, the venue is famous for its spectacular circular auditorium and world-class performances.
The Brighton Theatre Royal and Brighton Dome are other huge receiving houses of the performing arts and programme a variety of large-scale touring shows throughout the year. Both venues are steeped in history. In fact, the Brighton Dome is still connected to the Royal Pavilion and was formerly the Prince Regent’s stables.
The continuing popularity of these venues is integral to preserving the city’s cultural heritage.
Genres and Styles
From experimental theatre to classic plays and modern dance, there is a performance genre and style for everyone. In keeping with Brighton’s inclusive and dynamic reputation, the city is committed to providing something for every taste.
Performers use many non-traditional spaces to host boundary-breaking plays and performances that reach new audiences of all shapes and sizes. A well-travelled fringe creative space is the Nightingale Room opposite Brighton Station, where acts including the spoken word and comedy are performed for onlookers.
You also expect dinner and a show at many restaurants and bars. Just for a start, the Italian restaurant Duomo offers clientele cabaret alongside their food orders.
Community Theatre
The thriving community theatre in Brighton provides a stage for all. There are countless grassroots and not-for-profit theatres in the city, and they are an essential part of Brighton’s artistic ecosystem. These local initiatives contribute to the inclusivity of the theatre community and cover a variety of hard-hitting and poignant subjects.
Supporting non-profit and grassroots theatres is critical to the wider survival of Brighton’s thriving theatre scene. Not only do they support breaking-out artists, but typically their profits go towards deserving causes. Sevendials’ Purple Playhouse Theatre gives all profits to learning disability charity, Grace Eyre, while The New Venue Theatre is run entirely by volunteers who host workshops.