2011-2014: Born at The White Bear
The Wardrobe Theatre was established in May 2011 by a group of like-minded Bristol artists wanting to create an alternative arts space that actively supported and showcased emerging creativity and theatre from the city. Co-founded by Chris Collier, Jesse Meadows and Jesse Jones, joined 6 months later by Matthew Whittle, and supported by a large community of other theatre-makers and creatives (with special thanks to Tom Brennan, Harriet de Winton, Emily Greenslade and James Newton), together we converted a disused storeroom and created a pop-up theatre above The White Bear pub on St Michael’s Hill in Bristol. The space had a rough seating capacity of 50, it was ran purely on a volunteer basis and for 4 years all tickets were £5 or less.
It was a space for us and creatives in Bristol to experiment, learn and grow together, giving theatre-makers and artists a platform who would otherwise never get a chance to have their work seen, with no upfront hire fees. Some of the experiments that started in this room are still running today, including Closer Each Day, an improvised soap opera that has performed at The Wardrobe Theatre fortnightly for over 13 years and our signature alternative comedy Christmas shows that have grown every year to be a festive staple of many people’s calendars. The venue pulsed with energy and invention and was the sort of space Bristol’s thriving theatre scene deserved – and at the end of every season we would throw a big cabaret party!
A note on The Wardrobe Ensemble:
Although The Wardrobe Theatre was co-founded and supported hugely in these early years by members of Bristol theatre company, The Wardrobe Ensemble, we are entirely seperate organisations. That said, The Wardrobe Ensemble and The Wardrobe Theatre have many shared values and ethos to theatre-making and so we often collaborate on shows together and remain vocal champions for each other’s work.
2015: Operation Migration
The Wardrobe Theatre was only supposed to be a temporary pop-up but due to its popularity with artists and audiences, what we anticipated being just a few months of running a venue here quickly turned into 4 years. By 2015 we were running a theatre full-time and there was a feeling we had outgrown this room above a pub. In response to demand from audiences, artists, partner organisations and festivals, we decided to leave The White Bear and pooled all our resources and fundraised to build a brand new arts space for Bristol in the Old Market area of the city. Over 4 months we renovated an old bank-cum-cabaret club to create the new Wardrobe Theatre, pulling favours from every contact we had amassed over the past 4 years. This renovation was designed and project led by Chris Collier, Madeleine Girling and Holly Pigott.
On 1st December 2015, The Wardrobe Theatre’s co-directors Jesse Meadows, Chris Collier and Matthew Whittle opened our new venue with double the seating capacity in what is still our home in Old Market, starting our partnership with the wonderful pub/café/restaurant/events space, The Old Market Assembly which acts as our front of house. The first production in the new space was our in-house Christmas show, Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears.
A special thanks to all those that pitched in, advised, build, tiled, painted and helped during our move to Old Market in 2015:
Chris Askew, Anita Assadullah, John Bradley, Tom Brennan, Rachel Buchanan, Jim Brown, Lori Campbell, Megan Clark-Bagnell, Hazel Collier, Steve Collier, Liesel Corp, Jay Costello, Miranda Cromwell, Andrew Cross, Rosemary Cross, Simon Day, Lottie Donovan, Jack Drewry, Ann Finch, Adam Fuller, Arthur Girling, Laurie Girling, Madeleine Girling, Ben Goodman, Marcus Grant, Matt Graham, Emily Greenslade, Russell Hancock, Anna Harpin, Paul Harrison, Ellen Havard, Steve Hawes, Felix Hayes, Andy Hazell, Margaret Hickman, Harry Humberstone, Simon Inch, Rachel Isaacs, Jesse Jones, Emma Keaveney-Roys, Katie Keeler, Andy Kelly, Hal Kelly, Stephanie Kempson, James Kent, Jason King, Andrew Kingston, Alice Lamb, Matthew Lister, David Lockwood, Josh Lucas, Vicky Meadows, Meghan McKay, James Newton, Jack Offord, Natalie Parsons, Ed Patrick, Darren Perry, Holly Pigott, Lewis Prescott, Dave Ravenscroft, Ali Robertson, Ruby Spencer, Laurie Stansfield, Philippa Thomas, Rob Thumpston, Marion, Tucker, Mark Tucker, Sean Warman, Owen Wassell, Ellen Wilkinson, Harvey Williams, Bob Yates-Tily and all those who contributed during our fundraising events.
Also thanks to those that donated during our move to Old Market.
2015-2019: A New Home in Old Market
Having full control over our own theatre space in our new home in Old Market was a game-changer for The Wardrobe Theatre. For the next 4 years we grew and developed, each year becoming bigger, better and professionalising step-by-step including forming a board of trustees in 2017 and becoming a registered charity in 2018. During this time we worked hard to stick to our core principles and the ethos that had proven so popular and successful for us to date. Each year we worked with more and more artists, performers and theatre-companies to showcase the best of Bristol and UK emerging talent with regular experimental theatre and comedy nights like Nincompoop, Sharp Teeth Presents and Beyond The Ridiculous, and working with more and more festivals and arts organisations including Mayfest, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, In Between Time, PAPAYA Fest and Circus City. During this time Bristol Old Vic and Tobacco Factory Theatres had closed their studio theatres for renovations and so we also collabroated with both of these established theatres to regularly present shows at our venue.
As The Wardrobe Theatre grew we were able to reach greater and greater audience numbers. Every year between 2016-2019 we welcomed over 36,000 people to the theatre, staged over 500 performances of over 130 productions all whilst keeping the average ticket price less than £10. By the end of 2019 we had also produced/co-produced 20 in-house productions, many of which had gone on tour the UK with shows visiting Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton Fringe, Theatre Royal Plymouth and National Theatre, reaching an additional 2000 people every year.
2020-2021: The Covid-19 Pandemic
On 17th March 2020 The Wardrobe Theatre was forced to close along with every other venue across the country due to the covid-19 global pandemic. Overnight we had to cancel hundreds of upcoming performances and lost thousands of pounds in ticket sales. The following 2 years were the hardest in The Wardrobe Theatre’s history as we had to completely reinvent how to operate as a theatre and as theatre-makers.
During the pandemic, at a time when people couldn’t meet in-person, we felt offering shared experiences was more vital than ever and so The Wardrobe Theatre invested in online theatre. We created 5 online productions/co-productions including a series of interactive online murder mystery shows called Sherlock In Homes, made in collaboration with Sharp Teeth Theatre, eventually reaching over 30,000 people worldwide and being nominated for a Digital Culture Award.
After being shut for 18 months, with extra safety measures in place including socially-distanced seating and a new temporary theatre entrance, The Wardrobe Theatre gradually reopened during the summer of 2021. During the pandemic the theatre’s staff showed themselves to be incredibly adaptable and resourceful in the face of rapidly changing circumstances, week by week fluctuations in tier restrictions and shifting public health guidelines. Only through the dedication of our staff and the incredible support for our board of trustees, support from other arts organistions, and the financial support of Arts Council England’s cultural recovery grants and the UK government’s furlough scheme, did The Wardrobe Theatre survive.
2022-Present: Bristol’s Leading Fringe Theatre
Today The Wardrobe Theatre is one of the leading cultural voices in the South West and one of the UK’s most respected fringe venues. In the last 2 years we have built our team and today we have a staff of 6, a front of house team of 12, a large team of volunteers, and 9 trustees on our board.
Our mission is the same today as it was when we started in 2011: we want to share the live theatre experience as widely as possible and ensure live theatre is something that everyone feels welcome to, part of and excited by.