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Grand opening of flagship Darlington children's theatre nears

A new venue designed especially for young people and their families across the north east is nearing its grand opening in Darlington.

The team behind The Hullabaloo have revealed that the new 150-seater venue is less than 100 days away from its grand opening, with locals set to benefit from a new studio theatre, creative play installation, cafe and workshop when it opens.

Built within an Edwardian Fire Station, The Hullabaloo will sit adjacent to the Darlington Hippodrome when it opens and will stand as the only specialist theatre of its kind north of London.

Developed by Team Hullabaloo in partnership with Darlington Borough Council, and with support from Arts Council England and comes after Hullabaloo’s previous base at Darlington Arts Centre closed in 2012.

Miranda Thain, Creative Producer at Theatre Hullabaloo commented: “The Hullabaloo truly is vision-led. We are creating a space that is child-centred, where children are respected as an audience and where brilliant artists make great theatre and great places for them to play.

“What better way to communicate to children about how important their creative lives are than to build such a special place just for them?”

Work began at the site site in June 2016 kicking off an 18 month build period. Alongside the restoration of Darlington Hippodrome and The Hullabaloo will open to the public on December 12 2017 with the first performance of Bear and Butterfly.

Thain added: “The arts and creativity have a fundamental role to play in the growth and development of children and their understanding of an increasingly complicated world.

“The Hullabaloo will be a great asset, not only to Darlington but the wider region, and the whole of the UK too, giving everyone the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the arts.”