Theatr Clwyd

How Theatres Trust supported a theatre through a major capital redevelopment

In 1969 development started on the Clwyd Theatre and Educational Technology Centre, a civic-complex housing performance spaces alongside TV studios, galleries, workshops and function rooms - all designed to provide creative opportunities and training to nearby communities.

Seven years later in May 1976, two months before Theatres Trust was officially founded, Theatr Clwyd, as we know it today, opened its doors to audiences and artists for the first time.

It is now Wales’s largest producing theatre and an important cultural resource for the communities of Mold and the wider north-east area of Wales.

Though both Theatres Trust and Theatr Clwyd were founded in the same year, our involvement with the theatre began much later in 1988 when we publicly supported two planning applications to make improvements to the building.

Fast forward to 2019 and we supported a planning application for the theatre once again, but this time for a major capital redevelopment project to bring the building in-line with modern theatre-making needs.

We gave support to the theatre throughout the project including providing pre-application advice, helping with rehoming surplus seating, and supporting an additional planning application for a temporary ‘performance village’ to stage shows while works were ongoing.  

Theatr Clwyd reopened fully last summer and has been enjoying renewed success ever since, with annual visitor numbers doubling and community engagement metrics trebling.

This case study was produced as part of our Fifty@50 campaign to mark our 50th anniversary in 2026.

Photo credit: Philip Vile