Cinema at The Playhouse

Some of you may have caught the article in the Gloucestershire Echo recently about the possibility of our showing films here in the future. It is certainly something we are very keen to explore, as our improved seating rake makes our auditorium much more suitable for such a purpose.

Obviously, cinema equipment can be very expensive, so we would not be looking to make this sort of investment with undertaking at least a few trials, so the current thinking is that we will hire a top-notch screen, projector and speakers for a couple of weeks next year. We may, for instance, hold a film week in each season (as hiring for a week is the most financially sensible option) and show a variety of films during the week and possibly try out different types of projectors. This would then show us the long-term viability of the cinema option.

However, live events and theatre will continue to provide the vast majority of our output - film would be used to complement our existing offering (business speak) and attract a wider audience to our venue. Hopefully, we will show a wide variety of films, not just art films or foreign films, but also some classics that people might want to see on the screen again rather than the TV - and maybe we'll even present those in a nostalgic way with intervals, usherettes and B-movies!

Once the plans firm up, we will be asking our members, regular patrons and possible new patrons to let us know what sort of films they would like to see, in the hope that this market research will guarantee us decent audiences from the start. Watch this space!