The Arena Theatre is situated on Wulfruna Street in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

and is part of the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

's city campus. The venue's main auditorium seats 150 people and is used for both professional touring shows and for local community groups.

History

In 1967, Philip Tilstone, the first lecturer in drama at the University of Wolverhampton which was then the Wolverhampton College of Technology, wanted to establish the subject not just at the university but in Wolverhampton too. He was committed to provide a range of performance events for both students and the local community. Alongside his colleague, the late Dr. Percy Young, the director of music at the college, Tilstone gave the music students the opportunity to perform and these performance events would justify the provision of a fully equipped theatre/workshop venue, the Arena Theatre, with shared access for students and visiting performers. In 1989, Kevin O'Sullivan became the administrator for the Arena Theatre and then the theatre manager until his retirement in 2013. Student work was frequently performed at the Arena Theatre and local audiences continued to benefit from the range and quality of its professional programming. The Arena Theatre continued to act as an essential resource for drama and a first class performance venue for the region. Students from surrounding colleges and schools, members of local drama groups and arts organisations all made extensive use of the theatre. As well as the success of the venue in the local community, the Arena Theatre became a hotspot for touring theatre. Numerous prestigious companies touring shows to the Arena during this period included

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, People Show, Tara Arts,

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Its current joint

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, Volcano,

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, Gay Sweatshop,

Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl is an international theatre company founded in the United Kingdom by director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod in 1981. Donnellan and Ormerod are Cheek by Jowl's artistic directors and together direct and design all of ...

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, Complicite, Kathakali Dance, Black Theatre Co-operative, Red Shift Theatre,

ATC Theatre Actors Touring Company (ATC) is a touring theatre company based in London, founded in 1978 by Artistic Director John Retallack. Previous Artistic Directors have included Mark Brickman, Ceri Sherlock, Nick Philippou, Gordon Anderson, Bijan Sheibani ...

, Snarling Beasties and

The Right Size The Right Size was a British theatre company active from 1988 to 2006, led by Sean Foley and Hamish McColl. Their major success was ''The Play What I Wrote'', a tribute to Morecambe and Wise, and other key productions included '' Do You Come Her ...

. In addition to these, the Arena Theatre welcomed local professional touring companies from the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, Foursight Theatre, Theatre Foundry and Pentabus. As well as these, there were dance performances, live art and music concerts. After 20 years, the theatre had outgrown its cramped and inaccessible home, so with investment from the University of Wolverhampton and a grant from the National Lottery, an ambitious £2 million refurbishment began. Architects Marsh and Grochoski made use of the space available and the old gym was transformed into the Tilstone Studio.

Current status

After 18 months of building work, the Arena Theatre re-opened in October 1999. With greatly improved facilities and access, the theatre was able to expand its programme of performances and the Arena Theatre now host in excess of 200 public performances per year – in addition to a host of other special events. {{coord, 52, 35, 14.2, N, 2, 7, 38.1, W, type:landmark_region:GB-STS, display=title Theatres in Wolverhampton University of Wolverhampton