White Rock Theatre

The original East Sussex Hospital was replaced by the White Rock Pavilion, a beautifully designed theatre which was officially opened in April 1927 by Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1937 it underwent a further re-modification to change it to the Theatre style venue it is today. The Pavilion was refurbished again in 1985 and renamed the White Rock Theatre.

High quality shows are now being introduced such as Ellen Kent Opera and Ballet, Jimmy Carr, Joseph and Footloose. One of our major ventures is the Summer Youth Project which attracts between 100-200 young people from Sussex. This takes place in August each year and is a chance for young people to train under professionals from the theatre industry. Young people learn acting, singing, dancing and backstage work. The shows performed by this project include; Annie, the Wizard of Oz, We Will Rock You and Boogie Nights.

A number of local events and groups have a long standing history with the venue and still perform here to this day. The Hastings Musical Festival, who celebrated their centenary in 2007, the Hastleons amateur dramatic group and the local opera company Opera South East, to name but a few.

The auditorium is split on 2 levels – The Stalls and The Circle with an overall capacity of 1066 seats. The Stalls is also split into flat and raked seating areas. The stage is 47 foot wide and 31.6 feet deep.

The venue also houses the Stalls bar) and a café / restaurant both open throughout the day and during shows. Also part of the venue is the Campbell Room and Sussex Hall – both used for community groups and for corporate hospitality, both of which have recently undergone refurbishment.

Website: www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk

Ticket Office: 01424 462 288