Weymouth Pavilion

How Theatres Trust's support helped a community keep its theatre

The Weymouth Pavilion we know and love today is a much larger leisure and entertainment complex than the original built in 1908, containing a 900-capacity theatre, ballroom, restaurant, café, and function rooms.

The theatre is an important cultural facility for the people of Weymouth and the wider south west region, supporting both locally produced and touring theatre from across the UK.

So, when the theatres’ owner and operator, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, announced plans to demolish the theatre in 2012, Theatres Trust objected strongly to the application. Citing concerns about rising maintenance costs, the council sought demolition of the theatre with no plans for suitable alternative provision in the town.

We advised against this and suggested instead that the council work with the local community to keep the existing theatre open. We helped facilitate discussions between the council and interested local groups about the theatre’s future and were pleased when the council announced the following year that it would invite bids from the local community to lease and run the theatre.

Our expert and impartial Advisers provided support to the council with preparations for the tender process, ensuring operational requirements for successfully running a theatre were fully considered in the conditions of the lease agreement.

To Theatres Trust’s delight, it was announced a few months later that a newly formed Community Interest Company would take on management and operation of the theatre, saving it from demolition.

In its first full year of operation under the new community managed not-for-profit model, the theatre welcomed 300,000 visitors and sold more than 40,000 tickets, doubling previous figures. The theatre is still run by the Community Interest Company today and continues to go from strength to strength, with works ongoing to secure a viable and vibrant future for Weymouth’s central creative hub.

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

Photo credit: Courtesy of Weymouth Pavilion