Albany Theatre

The building that is the Albany Theatre main house was originally built and used as a lecture theatre. Called the Great Hall, it sat at the heart of Coventry Technical College, and was opened in 1935, when the college moved from its previous home of Earl Street to the corner of Albany Road and the Butts. During the Second World War, the college never closed its doors and after the heavy bombing in November 1940, hundreds of homeless citizens were housed at the college. A number of bombs were dropped on the building, but it escaped with little damage. The Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts began to use the hall as a theatre through the War Years to entertain the public with…

The Albany Theatre is a registered charity and is run by a board of trustees, the Albany Theatre Trust. The theatre's vision is to 'promote well-being through arts for life'. The theatre supports many community groups and initiatives and frequently welcomes local theatre and dance groups onto its stage. It is home to various community groups such as local dance troupe Ascension, the Albany Sings Choir and folk collective CVFolk as well as its own Youth Theatre. Primarily bringing in shows from other production companies, in 2017 the theatre put on its first in-house production and has since produced a professional in-house production each Christmas, as well as an in-house community…