#saveourtheatres - The Exchange Theatre

The Exchange Theatre is part of a national initiative launched by Theatres Trust to help us raise funds via a virtual bucket shake this festive season. For every donation made you will be entered into our prize draw and you will receive a reward if you gift £10.00 or more!

Our Virtual Bucket Shake

Like most theatres across the UK, due to the Coronavirus pandemic our doors have been shut since March 2020. We've had to cancel or postpone many productions, shows and events along with our community groups who use the venue on a weekly basis.  Our income has ceased, but our outgoings remain the same.

The year's programme of theatrical productions, music gigs and events is diverse and being in our 5th year we have worked hard to get to this stage.  We are extremely gutted to have had an empty theatre all year. With Christmas usually being  such an important and busy time for us we are missing bringing communities together for the seasonal family fun of our annual pantomime. Due to the pandemic we will remain closed throughout the festive season and into the New Year. 

We have faced a substantial loss of income throughout the year.  As a result, we would like to invite you to take part in a Virtual Bucket Collection this panto season to help us stay financially viable so we can bring you live theatre again in 2021. 

We know times are tough for everyone at the moment. But anything you can give to help keep our theatre ticking over whilst the doors are closed is incredible, no matter how big or small.  As a registered charity every penny received goes back into the theatre so we can offer the community a great affordable space in which to create. 

Every donation will be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win a family ticket for our summer or winter pantomime, a £10 drinks voucher and a family sweet hamper.

About our Theatre

The Exchange Theatre is located at the heart of North Shields situated in a grade II listed building.  We are a small team with dedicated volunteers who are passionate about the arts.  Our productions are both professional and amateur presented by local and touring grassroot companies. We encourage new writing and are a spring board theatre for the development of plays before going to larger venues.  There is an art gallery which has been host to many first time exhibitors from the local area.   Our venue is a flexible space with an audience capacity of up to 320. The Exchange hosts regular community groups including adult dance, playwriting workshops, young people and adult theatre groups, singing groups and much much more. It is a place to allow creatives to gather and to bring the community together.  We open our doors to thousands of people every year, your support will help us to do this again in 2021.

About Save Our Theatres

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.

Theatres saw their main source of income disappear in an instant when they closed in March in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

We still don’t know when they will be able to reopen fully. This ongoing uncertainty puts theatres in a perilous situation. The government’s bailout is spread across all cultural organisations and certainly won’t be enough to save all of the UK’s theatres.

Every day theatres are facing the tough decision to make staff redundant and to close their doors until next year. And there is a real risk that those closures could be permanent. 

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.

#SaveOurTheatres

Please donate, share this page widely and do what you can to help us to make sure our theatre survives this crisis.