The Lamb Theatre is a

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

, situated above the Lamb Inn in Old Town,

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. The first pub theatre in Eastbourne, it hosts a range of performance events at Eastbourne's oldest pub. The theatre was founded in August 2009, though the Lamb's roots as a performance space go much deeper; in the 19th century it was used by

Augustus Egg Augustus Leopold Egg RA (2 May 1816, in London – 26 March 1863, in Algiers) was a British Victorian artist, and member of The Clique best known for his modern triptych '' Past and Present'' (1858), which depicts the breakup of a middle-class ...

and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

to host their own theatrical events.

Charles Dickens

The modern revival of theatrical productions at the Lamb in Eastbourne's original High Street revives a historic tradition at what was once the centre of the village's cultural and social life. The 18th century extension of the original hostelry whose cellars date back to the 12th century was used as the Assembly Rooms of the village and theatrical productions were among the social activities which took place there. Notable amongst these were amateur dramatic productions in some of which Dickens participated. The

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on Pilgrims opposite - which is Eastbourne's oldest house and pre-dates the Lamb - records: "Charles Dickens made several visits to this ancient house in the 1830s." Two of his close friends were

Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

the artist and Dickens who would join Egg at his summer retreat, Hunt coming over from his home in Fairlight and Dickens down from London. Their common interest was amateur dramatics and they would rehearse their parts across the road at Pilgrims and then put on the plays either at the now disappeared theatre in South Street (taking their refreshment at the still existing Dickens Tea Rooms in South Street) or in the Assembly Rooms at the Lamb. To mark the link between Dickens and the Lamb, actor

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series '' Doctor ...

read two of the author's best known stories, ''

The Signal-Man "The Signal-Man" is a first-person horror/mystery story by Charles Dickens, first published as part of the ''Mugby Junction'' collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of '' All the Year Round''. The railway signal-man of the title tells the na ...

'' and ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'' in December 2009.

The theatre today

The theatre was revived in 2009, and had a regular programme of theatre events, usually on Sunday afternoons. Readings from authors such as Dickens,

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

have been performed on numerous occasions.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Lamb Inn and Hotel websiteThe Lamb Theatre website
Pub theatres in England Theatres in Eastbourne