The Savoy Theatre, Church Street,

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

is a theatre and cinema, reputedly the oldest working theatre site in Wales. It has a capacity for 360 people and is run by a charitable trust. CastingCall: Savoy Theatre
Retrieved 10 January 2012 One of 24 buildings on the

Monmouth Heritage Trail The Monmouth Heritage Trail is a walking route which connects various sights in the town of Monmouth, Wales. History In 2009 Monmouth Civic Society identified 24 historic and interesting buildings in the town, and organised the production and fix ...

, the theatre is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The building in which the theatre is housed was constructed on the foundations of the earlier Bell Inn, in Monmouth's historic town centre. Originally known as the Assembly Rooms, the theatre was first granted an entertainment licence in 1832. It was refurbished as the Theatre Royal in 1850 under J F Rogers, and later became the town's Corn Exchange. It was briefly a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

rink, belonging to the White Swan Hotel, at the end of the 19th century, before reopening in 1910 as Monmouth's first cinema, the "Living Picture Palace and Rinkeries". In 1912, it was renamed the Palace, and later became first the Scala and then the Regent.Keith Kissack, ''Monmouth and its Buildings'', Logaston Press, 2003, , pp.142–144 In 1927 the building was bought by the

Albany Ward Hannam Edward Albany Ward (6 November 1879 – 18 February 1966), known as Albany Ward, was a pioneer English theatre proprietor and cinema developer, who ran one of the largest cinema circuits in Britain in the early part of the twentieth century ...

theatre group, gutted, and reopened on 5 March 1928 as "The New Picture House". This showed the first "

talking picture A sound film is a motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decad ...

s" in the town in 1930.Monmouth Civic Society, ''Monmouth Heritage Blue Plaque Trail'', n.d., p.20 It closed as a cinema in the 1960s, later reopening as a

bingo hall Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. Bingo, also previously known in the UK as Housey-Housey, ...

and again closing in 1983, before reopening for a time to show historic

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

slides. It has operated continuously as a cinema since the 1990s. In 1989

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

designated the theatre a

, the listing record describing it as “a rare and little altered example of a small cinema from the inter-War period in Wales”.

Current management and operation

The Savoy is the oldest working theatre site in Wales and is privately owned by the MacTaggart family, descendants of B. T. Davies who once owned 19 cinemas in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. It is leased to a charitable trust, the Monmouth Savoy Trust, comprising voluntary enthusiasts who operate the venue for the benefit of the local community. The Monmouth Savoy Trust
Retrieved 10 January 2012 The Trust were instrumental in preventing the theatre from closing in 2010. NatWest Community Force Project: The Monmouth Savoy Trust
Retrieved 10 January 2012 The venue has no public funding, and costs about £50,000 per year to run. In 2004, the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

contributed towards the restoration of the interior decoration, which includes red velvet curtains, elaborate gilded plasterwork, and glass chandeliers. The theatre has reputedly excellent acoustics. The Monmouth Savoy Trust: History
Retrieved 10 January 2012 It now shows a regular nightly programme of cinema films, interspersed with concerts, drama and comedy shows, and also organises community initiatives and competitions. In January 2012, it won a grant from the

NatWest Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

's Community Force initiative, to help the Trust realise its ambitions of running an after-school film club for children and expanding its work with youth drama workshops. Monmouthshire Free Press, ''Monmouth theatre gets £6k boost'', 10 January 2012
Retrieved 10 January 2012 The Savoy still shows up-to-date films, but it also hosts a wide range of theatrical and musical events. As at December 2019 the theatre, together with three adjoining properties, No.s 18, 20 and 22, are for sale as a single lot, with a guide price of £1,250,000.

Gallery

Image:Savoy Theatre Monmouth, Ironwork on the ticket booth.jpg, Ironwork on the ticket booth Image:Savoy Theatre, Monmouth, view of the projection room.JPG, The projection room Image:Savoy Theatre Monmouth, View From Balcony, Central.jpg, View from central balcony Image:Savoy Theatre Monmouth Chandelier on Balcony.jpg, Chandelier on balcony Image:Savoy Theatre Monmouth Plaster Mythical Nude and Trumpeting Babies.jpg, Plaster, mythical nude and trumpeting cherubs Image:Savoy Theatre Monmouth Balcony box 3.jpg, Balcony box 3 door, detail

References

External links

Savoy Theatre Monmouth
{{Authority control Cinemas in Wales Theatres in Wales Buildings and structures in Monmouth, Wales Grade II* listed theatres Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire 1928 establishments in Wales Tourist attractions in Monmouthshire