The Playhouse

The Playhouse is a 664-seat theatre in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, South West England that hosts shows all year round including opera, ballet, comedy, music and pantomime performances. In 1946 an old market building, designed by Hans Price, a local architect, was converted into a 500-seat theatre. For the next 18 years this theatre, The Playhouse, provided the town with a great variety of entertainment. Stars included Frankie Howerd, Bob Monkhouse and Ken Dodd. On 21 August 1964 a fire destroyed most of the theatre and the unsafe structure had to be demolished. In 1969 at a cost of £230,000 a new theatre opened and has been in continuous use ever since. The stage measures 59 feet (18 m) by 28 feet (9 m) and can be extended by covering the orchestra pit. On 6 June 2007 the theatre staged the world première of Houdini—The Musical, which is based on the life of the escapologist Harry Houdini. The musical includes Houdini's famous trick the Chinese Water Torture Cell. The theatre suffered a major flooding incident on the evening of 27 April 2017 whilst hosting the North Somerset Schools Dance Festival. A rising water main burst on one of the upper floors leading to the evacuation of over 200 children and over 600 members of the audience. The fire brigade were called with 6 tenders attending to pump out the basement level which was completely flooded.