New Theatre

The building was designed by the London-based theatre architects Ernest Runtz and Ford and constructed from brick and Bath Stone. It opened to the general public on 10 December 1906. It was constructed under order by Robert Redford, who had rented the Theatre Royal for the previous nine years. At the time of the initial build, the stage was one of the largest in the country, measuring 76 ft wide, by 54 ft deep and 57 ft between the stage itself and the pulley grid hanging above. The first public performance was a performance of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, conducted by the company of Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The company had been brought from His Majesty's Theatre, London, and repeated…

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre re-opened in September 2021, after the longest closure in its history, with a week-long run of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The Autumn 2021 season included musicals, drama, concerts and comedy, culminating in the 2021-22 pantomime Aladdin starring Paul Chuckle, Gareth Gates, Gareth Thomas and Mike Doyle which came to an early close on Christmas Eve following a further Covid-related lockdown in Wales. New Theatre re-opened again at the end of January 2022 with the concert A Beautiful Noise, followed by near-capacity performances of musicals The Rocky Horror Show and Hairspray.