4 min readThis year marks a major milestone for The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol’s leading fringe theatre: 10 years since it opened its doors in Old Market.
From humble beginnings to becoming a hub for collaboration and creativity, their story is one of grit, community spirit and risk-taking. We asked the Wardrobe Theatre team to talk us through the story behind this much-loved theatre.
From pop-up to purpose-built
The Wardrobe Theatre began life in May 2011 as a pop-up space above The White Bear pub on St Michael’s Hill, created by a group of Bristol artists who wanted an alternative arts venue to support emerging creativity in the city. What started as a volunteer-run room with roughly 50 seats and £5 tickets quickly became a beloved performance space that pulsed with energy and invention.
Image - The former Wardrobe Theatre above The White Bear pub
The popularity with artists and audiences convinced the team that something bigger was needed, and they turned their sights on a new project: converting a derelict former bank and cabaret club in Old Market into a proper theatre.
The renovation was as DIY as it gets, with minimal funding, friends, volunteers and theatre-makers pitching in around the clock, laying the foundations for what would become a 100-seat, purpose-built theatre.
Image - The new Wardrobe Theatre in the Old Market Assembly
The new Wardrobe Theatre opened its doors on 1 December 2015. Its first production was the self-made alternative comedy Christmas show, Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears.
Image - Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears
Growing a creative home
Over the next few years, The Wardrobe Theatre really found its feet. With full control of its own space the organisation professionalised while holding fast to its core ethos of providing an accessible, affordable, welcoming theatre that puts local emerging artists first.
Over the next decade, thousands of performers, companies and creators graced The Wardrobe Theatre stage. From cult favourites and nightly staples to surprising, unforgettable moments that audiences still talk about today, the theatre has become a living testament to Bristol and collective creativity.
Image - Episode 250 of weekly improvised soap opera, Closer Each Day
Today: a leading voice in fringe theatre
Now firmly established as one of the South West’s leading fringe theatres, The Wardrobe Theatre continues to celebrate live performance in all its forms, from bold new writing and inclusive storytelling to clowning, poetry, comedy, improv, drag and family shows.
What helps drive the community spirit at The Wardrobe Theatre is the excellent regular shows that repeat fortnightly, monthly or quarterly, encouraging audiences to come back and back.
There's Closer Each Day: The Improvised Soap Opera with an ongoing storyline that develops and evolves every other Monday, Story Slam and Spicy Slam where audience members get onstage and share tales from their lives, Aftermirth (the monthly comedy club for new parents and young babies), Rock The Tots (live music for young families), bi-monthly spoken word events with Milk Poetry, Skeptics In The Theatre (an interesting and alternative lecture series), Kiota (an open mic event for performers from the global majority), The Lost Cabaret (a bi-monthly clown and comedy work-in-progress sharing party) and quarterly drag cabaret, The Shade Pullers & Lash Stackers Social Club!
Looking forward, The Wardrobe Theatre continues to grow its programme, nurture emerging talent and push the boundaries of what fringe performance can be, all while staying true to its roots as a welcoming, accessible and artist-led venue.
In a city known for its bold artistic spirit, The Wardrobe Theatre was built by the community, sustained by it, and stands out as a place where imagination thrives and where everyone, whether artist or audience member, can feel at home.
To help The Wardrobe Theatre in their work to support emerging talent, inspire the next generation, take creative chances, celebrate local voices and provide a welcoming space, please consider making a donation to the charity.
Image - The Wardrobe Theatre team
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