Here at The SandPit Theatre we pride ourselves on being a venue for the community. We work hard to programme a large variety of events to appeal to as wider audience as possible. We book shows that come with educational workshops or Q&A sessions to benefit students, affordable children's entertainment in the school holidays as well as providing a professional venue for local performing arts and dance schools. Where possible, we also try to use local suppliers and companies rather than the larger corporate ones to support the economy of St.Albans.
The SandPit Theatre celebrated its 15th anniversary last year and launched a renovation project to bring the venue up into the 21st century. There are elements of the theatre that are looking a little tired and could do with some TLC. We have already seen a part refurbishment to the bar and auditorium, the installation of a brand new website and ticketing system and await the arrival of air conditioning in April. - I'm sure all of you that have been to a production here will appreciate how excited we are about this!
The Project: Sponsor a Seat
Sponsor a Seat was launched in the Autumn of 2016. The aim is to replace all 268 seats in our auditorium with brand new RED seats. These will be visually striking and much more appealing than our current faded purple seats. Not only this, the new seats will have allocated seat numbers that people can choose when they book their tickets. This means no more queuing for hours before the performance starts to get those front row seats. Finally, (the thing we are most excited about) the whole system will be retractable meaning it will fold away in just under 10minutes at the click of a button. Our current seating structure takes 2 days to dismantle. This will allow us to open up the venue to a much wider range of clients including but not restricted to; corporate fairs such as recruitment and weddings, parties whether that be for your child or company or even dinner and award evenings in cabaret style. The list is endless!
How can you get involved?
We are hoping to raise the funds for this project from people sponsoring the seats. The cost of a seat is £250. We really want this project to be a demonstration of our strength as a community venue by having every seat sponsored by someone who has a connection with the venue. This could be a performer, a relative of someone who has performed here, a client of the venue, an audience goer, a patron, etc. We don't mind who you are if you have a connection with the venue no matter how big or small we would love you to get involved! There are several finance options for payment to make the project as accessible as possible to everyone.
What do I get when I sponsor a seat?
If you sponsor a seat you get the following:
- A plaque on the back of your seat with an engraved message or dedication of your choice
- Your name listed on our virtual seating plan on our website and displayed in our foyer
- A certificate of thanks confirming your generous sponsorship and the seat numbers your plaque will be shown on
- An invitation to a celebratory event once the installation has taken place in the venue
We believe this project is truely 'For the community, by the community,' and we hope you will support us in reaching our goals for the venue. Leave your legacy with us. If you would like any more information regarding the project or would like to hear about our future plans for the venue please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Rachael Peacock
Theatre Manager
