In my quest for an injection of delicious culture before I move over to Turkey and not understand a word anyone says (true story) a few weeks ago I began looking for some theatre productions to attend.
A first glance and I was disappointed, Wales Millennium Centre, New Theatre and Sherman Theatre (I hasten to add I was not disappointed with these beautiful places but in the capital of Wales I could only find 3 theatres!). But, and this is a big BUT this is why I love Cardiff, there are loads of theatres you just have to take a bit of time, like Carole King said. Cardiff is like the friend we all want, quiet, polite but a total catch who we want to hang out with everyday but we need to give them a bit of time to warm to us. London is the loud, boisterous friend who is the life and soul, who is our instant friend but sometimes is a bit "too" much. Cardiff has taken me a little time to adjust, having lived in London for so long where everything is at my fingertips, I lost my Cardiff mojo, but its back!
Anyway, I digress. So for anyone who is looking for some culture in Cardiff, I present the following after a painstaking afternoon of googling, twitter stalking and Facebook hunting.
1) New Theatre Cardiff
The New Theatre is located just off Queens Street and is the place to go for Christmas Panto and jolly musicals. I was lucky enough to watch Hamlet by the Clwyd Theatr Cymru there on a matinee performance. It hosts a wide range of performances, I personally don't enjoy musicals so I do get disappointed when I cycle past and see some cheesy cast is taking up valuable Shakespeare space, but they do overall put on a good range. I saw Alfie Allen in Equus here (and yes he did get naked but I was sat right up top and couldn't see much...)
2) Wales Millennium Centre
This glorious building has only been with us since 2009. Its an amazing venue for a whole range of offerings, I have since musicals, opera and plays there and have never been disappointed. This statuesque building is found in the charming Cardiff Bay.
3) Sherman Theatre
The Sherman Theatre was the thing you did when I was growing up (I didn't obviously) and I always admired people who did belong to the theatre group. The theatre can be found in Cathays, right in the heart of student land. It had a refurb whilst I was in London but now its open and its lovely, a cool little cafe and restaurant as well as looking a lot smarter than it used to.
4) The Gate
The Gate is one of those secret only locals know about it and I love it! You can find The Gate in Cathays, off City Road. Here you can do dance, theatre, music, and it has a beautiful cafe in the original schoolroom (yes it used to be a church)
5) Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre is located in Canton and it hosts films, theatre and talks. If I am being completely honest, I find this place to be a little pretentious and I don't go that often. I find the box office staff to be snooty and unfriendly, that being said, the production team are super nice. The cafe is always busy here and the cinemas are uber comfortable, just a shame about the staff. I did see a superb production of Measure for Measure by the Everyman Theatre group, who were great.
6) YMCA Roath
This place is a precious find! It hosts the Act One theatre group which is Cardiff Universities theatre group and its fantastic! The Theatre is located about a 10 min walk out of the city centre in the Roath area. The acting by the group is always top notch and the space is cute and traditional. I watched Pride and Prejudice there a few years back and I still have such fond memories of it.
7) The Other Room
This is a new theatre which is part of Porters Cardiff, a bar, cinema, a host for cabaret (found next to the Motorpoint Arena in the city centre). I haven't yet visited the theatre but its been added to my mental list to visit at some point before I depart.
Have I missed any? There are a number of amateur dramatic theatre groups but all their websites are out of date so its hard to tell who is still going!
A first glance and I was disappointed, Wales Millennium Centre, New Theatre and Sherman Theatre (I hasten to add I was not disappointed with these beautiful places but in the capital of Wales I could only find 3 theatres!). But, and this is a big BUT this is why I love Cardiff, there are loads of theatres you just have to take a bit of time, like Carole King said. Cardiff is like the friend we all want, quiet, polite but a total catch who we want to hang out with everyday but we need to give them a bit of time to warm to us. London is the loud, boisterous friend who is the life and soul, who is our instant friend but sometimes is a bit "too" much. Cardiff has taken me a little time to adjust, having lived in London for so long where everything is at my fingertips, I lost my Cardiff mojo, but its back!
Anyway, I digress. So for anyone who is looking for some culture in Cardiff, I present the following after a painstaking afternoon of googling, twitter stalking and Facebook hunting.
1) New Theatre Cardiff
The New Theatre is located just off Queens Street and is the place to go for Christmas Panto and jolly musicals. I was lucky enough to watch Hamlet by the Clwyd Theatr Cymru there on a matinee performance. It hosts a wide range of performances, I personally don't enjoy musicals so I do get disappointed when I cycle past and see some cheesy cast is taking up valuable Shakespeare space, but they do overall put on a good range. I saw Alfie Allen in Equus here (and yes he did get naked but I was sat right up top and couldn't see much...)
2) Wales Millennium Centre
This glorious building has only been with us since 2009. Its an amazing venue for a whole range of offerings, I have since musicals, opera and plays there and have never been disappointed. This statuesque building is found in the charming Cardiff Bay.
3) Sherman Theatre
The Sherman Theatre was the thing you did when I was growing up (I didn't obviously) and I always admired people who did belong to the theatre group. The theatre can be found in Cathays, right in the heart of student land. It had a refurb whilst I was in London but now its open and its lovely, a cool little cafe and restaurant as well as looking a lot smarter than it used to.
4) The Gate
The Gate is one of those secret only locals know about it and I love it! You can find The Gate in Cathays, off City Road. Here you can do dance, theatre, music, and it has a beautiful cafe in the original schoolroom (yes it used to be a church)
5) Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre is located in Canton and it hosts films, theatre and talks. If I am being completely honest, I find this place to be a little pretentious and I don't go that often. I find the box office staff to be snooty and unfriendly, that being said, the production team are super nice. The cafe is always busy here and the cinemas are uber comfortable, just a shame about the staff. I did see a superb production of Measure for Measure by the Everyman Theatre group, who were great.
6) YMCA Roath
This place is a precious find! It hosts the Act One theatre group which is Cardiff Universities theatre group and its fantastic! The Theatre is located about a 10 min walk out of the city centre in the Roath area. The acting by the group is always top notch and the space is cute and traditional. I watched Pride and Prejudice there a few years back and I still have such fond memories of it.
7) The Other Room
This is a new theatre which is part of Porters Cardiff, a bar, cinema, a host for cabaret (found next to the Motorpoint Arena in the city centre). I haven't yet visited the theatre but its been added to my mental list to visit at some point before I depart.
Have I missed any? There are a number of amateur dramatic theatre groups but all their websites are out of date so its hard to tell who is still going!
