Revamped Sterts Theatre opens for business

A steel framed building has replaced the theatre's tented canopy

A landmark Cornish theatre that closed more than a year ago due to storm damage has reopened.

The canopy at Sterts Theatre on Bodmin Moor had to be removed following storms and extreme heat in 2022 - meaning theatre groups had to find other venues to perform in.

The tented canopy, which had been a feature of the amphitheatre since 1994, has been replaced with a steel framed building.

More than £1m was awarded to Sterts by Cornwall Council and the government to help pay for the new theatre and improvements to the arts centre and studio.

Young dancers from Nicky Brice Ballet School were the first to perform in the new theatre

Richard Newton-Chance, chairman of the Sterts trustees, said work was still ongoing even though performances had been booked for the theatre.

"We're in the middle of this building project and we're doing everything we can to get this ready for the opening of our new show, The Beast, which is in the middle of August," he said.

"I think it's going to be quite beautiful when it's finished but [now] it looks like a big shed.

"The outside that you're going see when you walk into it is all going to be folding western red cedar doors.

"It's a much bigger space now than it was originally."

Mr Newton-Chance said the revamped theatre, which includes a new orchestra pit, would show how effective the Good Growth Fund had been and how the arts could be a powerful influence in rural communities.

"We're in south-east Cornwall, there's nothing else here," he said.

"People have to come here - there needs to be something iconic that people are really going to remember and take notice of."

A new orchestra pit has been created inside the theatre

Nicky Brice, who has run a ballet school at Sterts for 23 years, said it was fantastic to be back in the theatre.

Her school, which has students ranging from three to 87 years old, had its first performance at the new theatre on Saturday night.

"It means an awful lot to us, all the adults and the children understand what a massive thing this is," she said.