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The Garrison Theatre is a small theatre situated in Market Street in Lerwick’s old town and currently acts as Shetland’s only cinema. It is a traditional proscenium arch theatre with one bank of 280 seats in a fixed shallow rake facing the well-equipped stage.
The theatre is open throughout the year with a varied programme of visiting professional and community events. It hosts a varied annual programme of community and professisonal shows, including live theatre, stand up comedy, concerts, pantomine, dance and a film programme showing popular first release films.
Shetland Arts took over the running of the theatre in 2006 and in this small, but versatile space, has hosted a huge variety performances, from guitarist Martin Taylor to comedian Dylan Moran.
History
The Theatre was originally built in 1903/4 but has had many upgrades since then. Originally called ‘Lerwick Drill Hall and Gymnasium’, the building was headquarters of the 7th Volunteer Battalion Gordon Highlanders and used as a drill hall in the 1st World War. It was converted to a theatre by ENSA in 1942 and during the 2nd World War it served as a theatre to entertain the thousands of troops stationed in Shetland.
The Shetland Islands Council decided to repair and refurbish the theatre in 1989 and then a second phase in 1995/6 provided Shetland with a performing arts venue.
Contact
Garrison Theatre, Market Street, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0HD,
Telephone: 44 (0) 1595 743843
Fax: 44 (0) 1595 694001
admin@shetlandarts.org
www.shetlandarts.org
Proprietor: Shetland Arts Development Agency (Shetland Arts)
Telephone: 44 (0) 1595 743843
Accessibility: Full disabled access, disabled toilet
Technical specifications for the theatre are available from Shetland Arts on request, or can be downloaded here
Theatre dimensions (pdf 440KB)
Seating plan (pdf 65KB)
Garrison Theatre on Google
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