Newcastle fringe company Alphabetti Theatre will open its new venue in a disused office block basement on Saturday 7 March.
The building—at 16 New Bridge Street West—has been funded by Sunday for Sammy, Arts Council England, and nearly 100 people who supported the new venue through online crowd funding. Supporters and special invited guests will get a preview of Alphabetti’s new season in one-off show of music, puppetry and spoken word, hosted by Alphabetti’s Artistic Director Ali Pritchard.
The new season includes The Frights, Alphabetti's first full-length production, in development since 2013, and Frank Sumatra by Mike Yeaman, who scored international success with Lucky Numbers. There will also be spoken word, music and comedy at the monthly Alphabetti Soup.
As well as puppetry and poetry workshops, a writers and directors showcase called Write Back and original events the 24 Hour Theatre Challenge and the anarchic Quest to Stardom.