Hope Mill announces 10th birthday expansion plan

Small but powerful: Hope Mill Theatre's small auditorium. Pic: Hope Mill

Manchester's highly-successful Hope Mill Theatre has announced expansion plans - including the relocation of its award-winning community hub - as part of its 10th birthday celebration

The theatre is relaunching its community hub, which won an I Love Mcr award just months before it closed in early 2024 due to rising costs.

Situated close to the theatre, the hub was home to the organisation’s outreach programmes, including a theatre school, a community choir and orchestra and a play-reading club. The space was also used by local charity and community groups, and for rehearsals and events.

The hub will now reopen within the main Hope Mill theatre building, which is housed in rear of the ground floor of the 200-year-old mill. The plans include taking over the front of the ground floor, doubling the organisation's floor area as part of a general extension of the theatre and bar.

The new space will include an accessible dressing room and an extra accessible backstage toilet, a large community room and dance studio, individual singing rooms, a rehearsal studio and office space.

The space will be shared with neighbours in AWOL studios, and will include new creative work spaces and offices.

Stars of tomorrow? Some of the thatre's community hub members

“It was a really difficult decision last year to close the community hub, but at the time a necessary one," said William Whelton, CEO and the theatre's co-founder. 

"Our outreach work has continued in other spaces, but it's really important for us to bring our community programmes under one roof - so when the rest of the ground floor became available, we knew the time was right to expand."

“Hope Mill Theatre celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and Joe (co-founder Joseph Houston) and I could never have imagined the growth and impact the organisation has had made over that period, with lots of exciting plans ahead."

In its first decade Hope Mill has become a theatre powerhouse, with revivals of plays and musicals that, in association with producers Aria Entertainments, have made significant impacts on London stages. The multi-award-winning theatre and its founders have made The Stage's top 100 list three times since 2018, and have become so successful that Hope Mill is now exporting some musicals to larger theatres that its own tiny space, to accommodate the number of people keen to see them.

The theatre has launched a fundraising campaign to help fund the expansion work.

More community hub info here and here