The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, Sells One Million Tickets Since Opening

The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, has sold one million tickets, just under three years since opening.

The million tickets sold were a combination of 970,000 in the main auditorium and 30,000 in The Marlowe Studio.

The venue opened three years ago on Saturday (4 October) following a redevelopment costing £25.6 million. Since then, the theatre has attracted some of the country's leading touring companies, including the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Glyndebourne on Tour, Matthew Bourne and the Philharmonia. Large-scale West End musicals, such as Dirty Dancing, West Side Story and Legally Blonde, have also been brought to Canterbury for the first time.

The Marlowe Studio's programme, dedicated to new writing, has featured the work of some of this country's most innovative and exciting theatre companies, Paines Plough (who brought two works by Kate Tempest), Paper Birds and Vamos.

As well as presenting shows, the theatre provided the community with a range of creative workshops and projects. More than 2,000 people have taken part, and earlier this year Hollywood actor (and Canterbury boy) Orlando Bloom became Patron of The Marlowe Youth Theatre.

The Marlowe Theatre's Director, Mark Everett, said: "It's an amazing landmark to reach in only three years. It has been hugely gratifying to see the new theatre achieve this success in such a short period of time and I would like to thank all of the many theatre companies and artists who have performed here since we opened. And, of course, thank you to the one million people who have come here to see their work.

"I would also like to express my gratitude to our wonderful staff team for all of their hard work and dedication in achieving this highly impressive result."

Since its opening in October 2011, The Marlowe Theatre has generated more than £77 million for the local economy, based on people visiting Canterbury to see shows, the visiting artists who stay in the area while performing here, and the local employment and spending that the theatre creates.

Cllr Georgina Glover, Executive Member for Culture, said: "One of the key factors in building the new theatre on the same site was the economic benefit that businesses in the city centre, and especially those surrounding the theatre, would receive. The figure of £77 million over the three years is fantastic and has been a real boost to local businesses during a period of such economic difficulty."

The millionth ticket was sold to Lesley Wren, of Herne Bay, who booked to see An Evening With Sir Roger Moore with her husband, Alan. Mr and Mrs Wren have been Marlowe Friends for several years.

As a "thank you" for their support, Mr and Mrs Wren were invited to see One Man, Two Guvnors this week (on until Saturday) and to meet the cast. Mrs Wren said: "I've read about this sort of thing happening to other people but I can't believe it's happened to us. It's been lovely to be made to feel so special and we feel quite privileged."

Pictured (left to right): Edward Hancock (who plays Alan Dangle in One Man, Two Guvnors), Lesley Wren, Marlowe Box Office's Max Biddlestone (who sold the one millionth ticket), Jasmyn Banks (Pauline Clench), Alan Wren, and Shaun Williamson (Charlie "The Duck" Clench).

To post a comment, you must register and login.