Brighton Dome is one of the theatres and arts venues currently closed for live events due to the coronavirus pandemic. We are a registered charity, operating three venues, a large annual arts festival and two music education services, engaging with over half a million people every year. The closure of our venues in March and the cancellation of Brighton Festival 2020 meant that suddenly our organisation lost 67% of its self-generated income through ticket sales and events. Our 1,800 capacity Concert Hall is only able to consider vastly reduced capacity, socially distanced live performances, and the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre are undergoing major refurbishment until autumn 2021.
During our closure we have received overwhelming support from our audiences, Members and Patrons as well as invaluable ongoing support from Brighton & Hove City Council and emergency funding from Arts Council England.
Since the end of March, we have been doing everything we can to help our recovery, renewal and reopening, from ticket donations through cost savings to accessing emergency funds and launching online events and partnership projects such as A Simple Act of Wonder, Café Domenica and Live is Alive.
However, with the continued uncertainty around when large-scale live events might return, we need to raise £250,000 over the next year, in addition to our normal fundraising activities.
If you donate to the #BringBackBrightonDome campaign, you will be not only supporting the city’s vital arts community but doing your bit to help bring back live performance again to one of its most treasured spaces. We will use your donations to programme and deliver Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival shows in 2021.
To thank you, we are offering rewards such as backstage tours, theatre ticket vouchers, posters and art prints including five exclusive screen prints of favourite Brighton Festival brochure cover art works (see below) selected by our audience members from Brighton Festival’s back catalogue from the last 54 years. These A2 (420 x 594 mm) or A3 (297 × 420 mm) deluxe prints have been lovingly handmade by Brighton's The Private Press and with premium paper donated by GF Smith.
- Brighton Festival 2018 prints (A2 size): Visual artist and Brighton Festival 2018 Guest Director David Shrigley’s illustration
- Brighton Festival 2017 prints (A2 size): Leading design agency Johnson Banks and Brighton tattoo artist Adam Sage’s design for poet, musician and Brighton Festival 2017 Guest Director Kae (then Kate) Tempest
- Brighton Festival 1988 prints (A2 size): firework display image by Martin Sharp, Australian artist, creator of vibrant pop art-influenced album covers and posters for Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Cream
- Brighton Festival 1972 prints (A2 size): graphic with Brighton Palace Pier, unknown artist
- Sets of four of the above Brighton Festival prints are also available here
- Brighton Festival 1998 prints (A3 size): 'Contains added Hove' cartoon by Steve Bell
- Brighton Festival 2020 poster 'Welcome to the Imagine Nation' signed by Lemn Sissay MBE, Brighton Festival Guest Director, acclaimed British and Ethiopian poet, playwright, broadcaster and speaker. Litho printed, four-colour poster, size B2 (500x707mm), from the only Brighton Festival we have had to cancel in our 53-year history. The Festival that never happened.
- We are delighted to also offer you exclusive signed A2 screen prints of 'Art is our expression and our sunlight' by Morag Myerscough, specially designed for Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival (see image below)
- A stunning architectural portrait of Brighton Dome (see below) created during the lockdown by our very own Graham Cameron, who has worked at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival for 20 years. He is one of our extraordinary team who have been sticking together and are committed to bringing back arts and culture to our venues and are ready to reignite the work of artists who are desperate to perform to audiences once again.
Please donate to enable a diverse line-up of theatre makers, musicians, dancers, artists, freelance creatives, stewards, technicians, producers and many others to restart rehearsals, performances and workshops again for Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival seasons in 2021. Do this for the whole theatre and arts community that we serve by providing an accessible environment where both local community groups and internationally acclaimed artists are inspired to develop ideas and present their work, often for the first time.
Donate to help us bring back families and creative learning projects to our stages, such as the Umbrella Club and Miss Represented.
"I genuinely didn't think I had a future before and now there's so many other ways I can go." (Miss Represented participant)
"The theatre is something that our whole family can enjoy together" (Audience member)
“Before I found out about Umbrella Club, I wouldn’t dream to look at any theatre or music shows as having disabled children we have a lot of financial strain on our family. But now I know Umbrella Club offers tickets and workshops, my family and I actually get excited about the opportunity to go out together.” (Parent member, Brighton Dome Umbrella Club)
In villages, towns and cities across the country, theatres are at the heart of their community. Places to come together, to be inspired and be entertained. Theatres are where our best-loved actors learn their craft and thousands of others learn valuable skills.
But we risk losing this forever.
Without urgent support, we could lose our nation’s amazing theatres. Please help us to make sure our theatres survive this crisis and will be there to be enjoyed by future generations.
Please donate, share this page widely and do what you can to help us to make sure we #BringBackBrightonDome. Thank you!
