On Saturday, 27th April I visited our brilliant local theatre - the Royal & Derngate Theatre on the Guildhall Road in Northampton.
I know from my time as Arts Minister that our own local theatre in Northampton has a superb reputation nationally in the theatre world and has recently achieved a spectacular success in that one of their productions The Worst Witch has been snapped up by the West End! I took the opportunity to see their current production ‘Ghosts’.
Local theatres play a hugely important role in the community from helping young people to pursue an arts-based career to providing a form of entertainment to boosting the local economy. The Royal & Derngate building itself is also historically important and as such it is a Grade II listed building.
The Royal & Derngate plays an important role in our community both economically and culturally; it also supports local schools and colleges such as Northampton College where lots of students are studying theatre and drama.