Daneside Theatre is a theatre in the town of

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. It opened in 1984 and expanded in 2001. The theatre is used by several local dramatic and musical societies.

History

Daneside Theatre was built in response to the closure of the Players Hall on Eaton’s bank that was used by the Congleton Players. The Players Hall was closed to allow for the construction of the Mountbatten Way inner relief road. In 4 October 1980, the first sod was cut. The theatre was built by Daneside Theatre Trust Ltd. on top of the Congleton open-air swimming baths as part of the Daneside Leisure Development, which led to the closure of the swimming baths. The theatre cost £198,000 to build; some funding came from local townspeople who paid to have a seat named after a family member. The theatre officially opened on 3 October 1984 by the chairman of Congleton Inclosure trust, Jocelyn Solly. The first production at Daneside Theatre was ''Curtain Up'' which featured various amateur theatrical groups in and around Congleton. In attendance were local members of parliament, mayors of both the Borough of Congleton and the town of

, and other dignitaries. A projector from

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

's training centre in

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census wa ...

, which had recently switched to using video units for training, was donating to the theatre, which allowed for film screenings. The first movie to be screened at Daneside Theatre was ''

Desperately Seeking Susan ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housewif ...

''. Among the audience that night were the mayor of Congleton Borough, councillor Joe Alcock, and Congleton town mayor councillor Mike Kitton.

Refurbishment

Daneside Theatre was refurbished in 1997 at a cost of over £100,000. The refurbishment added a foyer and disabled toilets to the theatre, with a large amount of money coming from the estate of Jocelyn Solly.

Fire

The theatre was subject to an

arson attack Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, water ...

in 1998, when two storage containers outside the theatre were set alight. The props and scenery stored in the containers were destroyed. Firefighters were able to prevent the fire spreading between the burning containers and the theatre.

Expansion

The building was expanded at a total cost of £238,000 in 2001, of which £56,775 came as a grant from the

Arts Council of England The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

, and some came though support other organisations, such as the

Garfield Weston Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes, both ...

. The expansion added new rehearsal rooms, a meeting room, and extra storage space. The expansion was opened by

Ann Winterton Jane Ann, Lady Winterton (''née'' Hodgson; born 6 March 1941 in Sutton Coldfield) is a retired British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Congleton from 1983 to 2010. She is married to Sir Nicholas Winterto ...

, MP for

, on 10 November 2001.

Use by theatrical societies

The following theatrical societies use Daneside Theatre: *Centre Stage Youth Theatre Company *Congleton Amateur Youth Theatre *Congleton Musical Theatre *Congleton Pantomime * Congleton Players Amateur Theatre Club *Congleton Gang Show The Congleton Gang Show was formed in 1972. The Congleton Gang Show performs one performance every two years at Daneside Theatre. The Congleton Gang Show was formed as part of the 1972 Congleton charter year celebrations. *Phoenix Theatre Company *SOL Theatre School *Trinity Amateur Operatic Society

Awards

The following is a list of people linked to Daneside Theatre who have won awards. * Annabelle Hull: Special Recognition Award (

NODA NoDa (short for "North Davidson") is a popular arts district in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the North Charlotte neighborhood on and around North Davidson Street and 36th Street, approximately one mile northeast of Up ...

District 8 2020 awards) * Mavis Stoner: Special Recognition Award (

District 8 2020 awards) * Sheila Rowley: Special Recognition Award (

District 8 2020 awards)

References

{{coord missing, Cheshire Congleton Theatres completed in 1984 Theatres in Cheshire