White Rock Theatre

White Rock Theatre is a medium-scale receiving house venue owned by Hastings Borough Council situated on the seafront of Hastings, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. It currently presents a varied programme of touring shows including opera, ballet, musicals, the Hastings Musical Festival and children's shows.

White Rock Theatre
AddressWhite Rock
Hastings, East Sussex
England
OwnerHQ Theatres (in partnership with Hastings Borough Council)
Capacity1066 seated or 1620 standing/seated
OpenedApril 1927
Website
www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk

History

The original East Sussex Hospital was replaced with the White Rock Pavilion which was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in April 1927. It was built for the Hastings Municipal Orchestra. The pavilion underwent a further re-modification in 1939, when along with an electrical/electronics and acoustics upgrade[1], the seats were modified to be of the cinema 'folding' type[2] and again in 1985 when it was renamed the White Rock Theatre.

The auditorium is split on two levels – The Stalls and The Circle with an overall capacity of 1082 seats or 1620 for standing/seated events. The Stalls is also split into flat and raked seating areas. The stage is 47 feet (14 m) wide and 31.6 feet (9.6 m) deep, with a 1/28 rake.

The seating capacity used to be 1066 (after the Battle of Hastings, but in early 2019 the capacity and layout was increased to allow more flexibility to the venue.[3]

From its very beginning Hastings Borough Council ran the Theatre. As the years went by and the Theatre continued to run at a loss, the council decided to close the Theatre down. This announcement was met with the fierce opposition from local people and groups rallied round in support of the White Rock. In May 2002 Clear Channel Entertainment, a huge American organisation, took over management of the venue. In December 2005 Clear Channel Entertainment was spun off from the main body of Clear Channel and became Live Nation.

On February 1, 2009, HQ Theatres took over as operator of the White Rock in partnership with Hastings Borough Council.

Performances

The Theatre has seen a selection of entertainment over the years including Motörhead, Russell Brand, Hot Chocolate, Eartha Kitt, Al Murray, Geri Halliwell, Jools Holland, Derren Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Tim Vine and Greg Davies. It also hosts an annual pantomime.

Current activity

The venue houses a Café, the Stalls bar and the Circle Bar. Also part of the venue is the Campbell Room and Sussex Hall – both used for community groups, corporate hospitality and private functions.

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References
  1. Hastings & St Leonards Observer 27 May 1939 pg. 9
  2. White Rock Pavilion - Historical Hastings Wiki, accessdate: 17 May 2020
  3. "Hastings theatre set to undergo major refurbishment in 2019". www.hastingsobserver.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2019.


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