Roundhouse

Significance

The intimate 100-seat Roundhouse Theatre is located within the Dover Discovery Centre, a complex constructed in the late 1980s and built around two areas of Roman remains at either end of the site with a medieval church in the middle. The building was originally built as a visitor attraction, housing animatronics that supported the White Cliffs Visitor experience. .

The Roundhouse is Dover’s only publicly accessible theatre and until 2022 was home to the Black Fish Theatre and Academy, a training establishment for performing arts as well as other community users.

The theatre was designated an Asset of Community Value in 2021.

Why is this theatre at risk?

The Roundhouse was added to the Theatres at Risk Register in 2022.

Kent County Council and Dover District Council have split ownership of the Dover Discovery Centre and have entered into a funding agreement for £7.75m to redevelop the building as a Dover Community Hub, relocating key local authority services there.

Planning applications were submitted for the scheme in 2022, which would have seen the Roundhouse Theatre converted into offices. Theatres Trust strongly objected to the intial application and subsequent application. Kent County Council has now withdrawn the application and is instead planning to focus on community and cultural activity within the Roundhouse. In the meantime, the children’s services are still relocating to the Discovery Centre building, although not impacting on the Roundhouse space.

The council has since identified an opportunity to transition the Roundhouse back into community use. This would involve repurposing the space for more broader programming of cultural activity, with increased access for residents throughout the week including creative workshops, rehearsals and training.

While this is a welcome development, until these plans are realised, Dover is left without theatre provision.

Theatre potential

There is a lack of cultural infrastructure in Dover and Arts Council England has given the town

The Roundhouse has been an active theatre used by a range of drama groups, such as Dover Operatic and Dramatic Society and Dover Youth Theatre, providing amateur dramatics and performance training and experience to young people. Black Fish Academy, whose lease expired in 2013, remained at the theatre under an informal arrangement that ended in 2022.

There is a desire and demand for the space to be retained for this use and to continue to serve its local community. The redevelopment proposals attracted much criticism within the local community, with a petition attracting more than 1,000 signatures, and a successful application to have the building listed as an Asset of Community Value.

Current situation

With support through our Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme, an initial feasibility study was commissioned to allow the council to understand options for the refurbishment for the Roundhouse Theatre. The study indicated that there is opportunity for the Roundhouse to be reopened and provide cultural and arts facilities for the community. 

Further support through our Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme commissioned an arts consultant to establish the demand for the Roundhouse to reopen as a multi-purpose community cultural and well-being hub and to provide operating and management options.

 The report, completed in January 2026, has identified the next steps for the council in developing the project and returning the Roundhouse as an active community / arts venue contributing to the cultural vibrancy of the town.

 We will continue to work with the council and to provide support both in relation to the operation of the Roundhouse and wider theatre provision within Dover.

Main image, Roundhouse Theatre by Ian Grundy.