IT HAS stood at the heart of its community for more than 50 years – now it is becoming a bigger part of it.
And the decision to open the doors to Guide Bridge Theatre more often is paying off, with more activities meaning more people coming in and more volunteering.
But hopes are high it can be made Grander still with a fundraising push to further improve its facilities.
As well as the productions it puts on, the Audenshaw base hosts a community café on the first Tuesday of every month.
Its youth theatre groups on a Monday give people between the ages of seven and 15 to get involved, while Bridging The Gap – held on Sunday evenings – is giving young adults the opportunity to perform major roles and/or take responsibility for other elements of a production, which will be used in a show in July.
There is also the Fresh Voices event featuring six short pieces written by members of the Guide Bridge Theatre WordsmithsINK group.
And a ‘Closet Clearout’ sale of pre-loved items will be held there on Saturday, April 20.
Throw in concerts, including an Acoustic Showdown for the Make It Grander appeal on Friday, April 19, and it is easy to see why the off-stage direction is working.
“We’re a community facility,” said Sue Holden, of Guide Bridge Theatre. “What’s the point of having this wonderful place when its’ shut down most of the time?
“Before the Covid-19 lockdowns, it was just a performance venue. Then with needing to re-open safely, thoughts were, ‘How do we become more of a community facility, rather than just a theatre?’
“For most of the year, we were shut. We worked out we were only open for 55 nights. Now there aren’t many days when something isn’t going on here.
“Our footfall last year was 18,000 people for various functions. That’s massively up.
“Before Covid-19, you knew who the audience was, they were regulars and came on the same day in the same seat.
“We developed the offering from not just being a theatre that puts on the Guide Bridge productions. We’re available to hire, we put on other shows ourselves as fundraising rather than artistic content.
“We started the café and have hires for Slimming World, Base – a local theatre group and for Made By Mortals. We have murder mystery evenings and tribute bands perform – they all attract a different audience.
“We’re also doing trips for schools and are hoping to promote visits from other groups, ones who want to do something different. They can have a little tour and we’ll put on a small performance for them.
“We’re currently collecting pre-loved, good quality clothes, handbags, costume jewellery and scarves for our Closet Clearout event.
“And matinee performances are also now as standard. If it’s one of our productions, we’ll do a matinee, so we encourage people who had stopped coming out, maybe older people who don’t want to be out at night, to come out.”
Along with changes to the approach, alterations have been made to the fabric of Guide Bridge Theatre, not least the installation of ramps to make it more accessible.
And the success of opening the doors more can be seen as Michelle Lockwood is now one of the volunteers a year after first walking in.
“A friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was volunteering in the café here,” she said. “So I said, ‘Let’s go down, I’ve never been here.’
“When I walked through the door, I was welcomed and my friend said, ‘Why don’t you get involved and audition?’
“So I did, I came to an open spotlight night and did a little monologue, then I auditioned for Fresh Voices, that’s what got me through the door and I’m doing it again.
“Then I got involved backstage and with the café, which is a lovely community café, and dragged others along.
“It’s just a lovely community feel. I feel like I’ve found a new family.”
