Swindon Arts Centre

Swindon Arts Centre is a 200 seat venue in the heart of Swindon's Old Town, on Devizes Road, a short distance from its sister venue the Wyvern Theatre. Open since 1956 and run by Trafalgar Theatres on behalf of Swindon Borough Council, it presents a year round mix of concerts, comedy, dance, drama, exhibitions, musical theatre and productions by local amateur companies. The building is a flexible one: alongside the first floor auditorium there is a ground floor performance studio, a bar and cafe, and the South Swindon Parish Library. It is a friendly, small scale place to see live work.

The Arts Centre opened officially on Saturday 1 September 1956, with the mayor, N V Toze, and Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, vice chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, doing the honours. It was not quite the first attempt: roughly ten years earlier a separate arts centre had operated in a former Methodist Hall in the town centre. The Devizes Road building has a chapel past of its own, having previously been a Methodist Hall, which helps explain how adaptable the venue has proved to be.

Seven decades on, the venue has become one of Wiltshire's established live entertainment addresses, welcoming thousands of people each year to a mixed programme of concerts, comedy, dance, drama, exhibitions, musical theatre and local amateur productions.

Two rounds of building work shaped the Arts Centre that audiences use today. It reopened in January 2003 after a refurbishment that added a lift in a new entrance foyer to reach the first floor auditorium, along with new accessible toilets and new seating. A larger project followed in 2010, when the ground floor was completely redesigned to create a performance studio, a bar and cafe, and space for the Old Town public library to move into the building. That same year the television personality Richard Digance became the venue's first Patron, while Pam Ayres is Patron of the Friends of Swindon Arts Centre.

On the management side, Swindon Borough Council awarded the contract to run the Arts Centre alongside the Wyvern Theatre to HQ Theatres and Hospitality in early 2015. The venue is now managed by Trafalgar Theatres on behalf of the council, with Laura James as Theatre Director following a line of managers that includes Clarry Bean, Darren Edwards and Elly Stimpson Duffy.

The auditorium is on the first floor and is reached by a lift installed in the entrance foyer, and the building has accessible toilets, both added as part of the refurbishment completed in January 2003.

• Access tickets: wheelchair spaces and companion tickets are arranged directly with the team. Contact the Swindon Theatres ticket office on 01793 535534, by phone, in person or through the online enquiry form.
• Assistance dogs: working dogs are welcome, and the team asks that you mention this when booking so suitable seating can be arranged.
• Assisted performances: selected shows across Swindon Theatres are audio described, British Sign Language interpreted, captioned or presented as relaxed performances for audiences who prefer a less formal environment.
• Parking: accessible parking spaces cannot be reserved in advance.