In a surprise announcement last week, Southend-on-Sea?s Cliffs Pavilion has confirmed that it is take on responsibility for the Westcliff Palace Theatre when it re-opens next year.
A 600-seat Edwardian theatre, the Palace has closed twice in the past three years and will now re-open with a cash injection from Southend Borough Council. As part of the plan it will be merged with the Cliffs Pavilion and initially serve as a receiving theatre in order to stabilise its finances, whilst benefiting from the predicted economies of scale provided by its newer sister theatre. Around 250 performances a year will be presented, 100 of which will be amateur and community-based. Cliffs Pavilion Director, Chas Mumford said ?The Palace is a beautiful theatre though it is going to take a few months to get it physically into shape... Both theatre boards voted for the merger and our track record shows that we have the potential to achieve a lot together in the future.? East England Arts, formerly a major funder of the venue, has welcomed the news of the re-opening but indicated that the most likely form of financial support for the venue in the future will be for projects through the Regional Arts Lottery Programme.
Published: 04-11-2002