Hastings has long been awash with talented musicians and artists with plenty of opportunities to showcase their talents. The gaping hole has always been the lack of local professional theatre. I used to wonder if there wasn’t a sufficient pool of locally based theatre professionals to justify a professional performance space, but I now know this is not the case. Over recent years performing in London and around the UK I have been amazed by the number of people I have worked with who are based in the Hastings area, so we definitely have enough local talent, but they have to search further afield to find work.

At the very minimum, Hastings would greatly benefit from a Theatre Pub in the style of The Red Lion or The White Bear but ideally would have a dedicated professional theatre space that could act as both a launch pad for smaller local companies and attract established touring companies who bypass Hastings.

A locally-based professional theatre would not only greatly expand the range of shows available to residents but would also benefit the wider community. ‘Theatre in a box’ productions could take professional theatre to villages and schools.

Ideally it would be based in St Mary in the Castle as it is not only an impressive venue, but has plentiful parking directly opposite. I am currently working with the English Theatre of Hamburg, and they have adapted space in an office building very successfully. If only Hastings had one or two empty buildings in the town centre!!

While in Hamburg I’ve been interested to note that, by the end of my run, actors from the Hastings area will have been involved in every show for the last 12 months. If they can run a successful professional theatre in Hamburg on Hastings talent, surely we can in Hastings?