2022 is a big one for us at Trinity Theatre as it’s our fortieth. It is fitting really, that such an important milestone should follow such a period of darkness. Trinity has always been phoenix-like; a building created by public consultation to serve the growing Christian populace. Then, centuries later, saved from demolition by a group of passionate cultured Tunbridge Wellians and transformed into a theatre whose work thumps like a heartbeat throughout the community it serves.
Now though, our beloved Trinity stands on another precipice. This pandemic has caused an existence level epidemic in the entertainment industry and yet, day after day, artists of all kind continue to find ways, through films, books, television, music, dance and theatre to make our lives just a little more enjoyable and meaningful. And therein lies great hope.
This year we will burst into life with new in-house productions, like the brilliant and hilarious Miraculous Misadventures of Robin Hood this half-term, open-air classics this summer and – if you’ll forgive me mentioning Christmas already – our newly commissioned festive family comedy Not the Three Musketeers (tickets are on sale now!). We’ll carry on connecting with the community through our support of The Repair Café – an incredible local initiative helping to combat waste by restoring your worn out things. There will also be exclusive shopping evenings with independent retailers in partnership with the TN Card, monthly Arts Society lectures and so much more.
We’ll also present a host of new recurring events to suit every appetite. These will include The Breathing Room, a series of meditative Sunday evening gigs with the likes of Fiona Bevan and Seth Lakeman. The Open Page which will be frank literary interviews with big names like Claire Fuller, Joanne Harris and Ben Aaronovitch. And then there’s our new and improved Comedy Club, The Good Ship Comedy with our regular host Ben Van der Velde which will feature some of the hottest acts on the circuit. February’s event includes Laura Lexx and Eshaan Akbar. Our comedy offering will also see big name solo acts like Mark Watson and Sharparak Khorsandi take to the stage at Trinity.
When the sun is shining, we’ll be making the most of our beautiful grounds with summer garden parties, fetes, and outdoor performances. This is also when one of our major on-going projects will reach its thrilling completion as our Heritage Lottery Funded Clocktower Project will finally open to the public. We have undergone hefty restoration of a significant part of our building and will re-design it as a heritage attraction celebrating our incredible shared history and leading the visitor to a breath-taking viewing platform with panoramas as wide as this newspaper’s circulation, probably!
Of course, Trinity is more than just a theatre, we are a charity that truly serves the people of Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding areas. Whether it’s through our incredible creative engagement team who deliver a programme that reaches over four hundred children a week as well as our senior choir and cinema mornings that bring isolated adults together. Amazingly they still find time to rehearse our spectacular youth theatre productions (the much under- rated musical Legally Blonde is coming up in February). Then there’s our offering of the best in independent cinema (in comfy seats, with good wine!), world class theatre, talks, dance and music. Simply by just being open and offering a home-from-home for the many community groups that use our building daily Trinity aims to reach every corner of our community.
We have tremendous plans for our big birthday year, but what use is a party with no guests! Audiences have been understandably slow to return, but I am here to say – when you’re ready, we’re open. We need you, all of you, to embrace us again. Come and have a coffee, see a show, hell, just park in our car park! Every little helps us do all the great things that we do. Let’s make sure that the old adage proves true and, for a beloved local institution like Trinity, life really does begin at forty. Who’s with us?
See www.trinitytheatre.net for more info
