Welcome to the Theatre Royal Margate website

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the people who supported us in our first season at the Theatre Royal. We are particularly grateful to our volunteers who help us man the theatre at our public performances. If you’d like to help us as a volunteer (a great way to see some fabulous shows!) do give us a ring on 01843 293397.

Our education season kicks off with an offer to all Thanet Primary Schools of a free literacy workshop for a class of their pupils. In Off the Page a professional actor will come in to their school to work with them in a dynamic way on a poem or story that they are reading at school. We’re proud, too, to be working with Peer Productions in March when The Teenage Pregnancy Project visits secondary schools and youth groups in the area to examine the truths and myths surrounding this thorny issue. If you work in a Thanet School and would like more details of these projects please e-mail admin @ theatreroyalmargate.co.uk. Our Youth Theatre groups start in February as well - have a look at our Outreach pages for more details.

The professional Spring/Summer Season brings a marvellous mix of theatre styles, dance, song, comedy and music to the Theatre. Once again we are proud to be attracting some of the most established companies in the country to display their wares in the Theatre Royal.

Highlights include a visit from Hull Truck with Jim Cartwright’s Two (first produced in 1989 it is now a modern classic), the return of The Watermill Theatre with Micky Salberg’s Crystal Ballroom Dance Band, and fantastic visual theatre with Strangeface’s Last Resort.

Family treats are there right through the season with The Witch’s Bogey, a musical for all the family with an interactive workshop before the show; Professor Bumm’s Story Machine arrives in April with hugely entertaining improvisation for a younger audience; and The Terrible Infants should appeal to families and theatre-lovers alike with its strong visual style and gruesome stories that fall somewhere between Hilaire Belloc and the Brothers Grimm.

Musical theatre is represented by Opera della Luna’s fabulous Nightmare Songs, and, continuing the music theme, we have a rare selection of superb acts. Rory McLeod plays the Theatre Royal for the first time. Rory’s is an extraordinary live act, with stunning words and music. Davey Arthur and the Fureys celebrate 30 years on the road with great gig here in May. Don’t miss the delights of the eccentric London Philharmonic Skiffle Orchestra, an act who can’t fail to surprise. For jazz fans I am thrilled to be welcoming Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band; Bilk’s band is one of the most successful British jazz bands of all time and Acker is the proud sponsor of one of our theatre seats.

With dance from Loop Dance Company, a one-man thriller about Sherlock Holmes, and a brilliant series of stand-up nights from The Comedy Club, there’s something for everyone in our professional season.

Add to that the Police Pantomime, the Thanet Gang Show, dance showcases from the Page-Mason Schools, a musical each from the Minster Players and Reach Academy, a mad 24 hours as we put on one of Shakespeare’s plays from scratch (come and join in the fun!) and much, much more! I look forward to seeing you at your theatre.

Will Wollen
Artistic Director