The Tower Theatre, Cheriton (geograph 2170698)

The Tower Theatre is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

that has been converted from the

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

church of Shorncliffe Camp barracks. The venue is owned by

Folkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society Folkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society, FHODS, is a charitable organization that holds performances and events at its theatre in Shorncliffe, the Tower Theatre. A theatre which has been developed by FHODS from what used to be a church, ...

, (FHODS).

Society

FHODS is a

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

that has been running in

and

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

since 1902. It is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic and

dramat The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the third oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the United ...

ic society for amateurs. It regularly holds events and shows for the people of Folkestone and its surrounding areas. Very few similar societies in the UK own their own theatre, although this is the third successive theatre to be owned and operated by FHODS.

Building

The

church was purchased by FHODS in 2001, and renamed The Tower Theatre. This is the largest garrison church in the UK. It was converted in late 2006 to early 2007 to a theatre. This new theatre has a 300-seat

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

with a large stage.

References

External links

The Tower Theatre website
{{coord , 51, 4, 45, N, 1, 8, 4, E, type:landmark_region:GB-KEN, display=title Theatres in Kent Former churches in Kent Folkestone

Society

Building

See also

References

External links