Shortlist announced for the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award

Seven venues to attend UK Theatre Awards after over 55,000 public votes cast

After more than 55,000 public votes were cast in a period of less than three weeks, seven venues have been shortlisted for the inaugural My Theatre Matters! Most Welcoming Theatre Award in association with Classic FM, which will be announced at the annual UK Theatre Awards ceremony in London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 20 October 2013.

Of over 225 venues that were competing, the final shortlisted venues are:

St James Theatre, London
Stamford Arts Centre
The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter
The Mill at Sonning Theatre
The Watermill Theatre, Newbury
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
Wilton’s Music Hall, London

To ensure a fair and competitive process, the public voting system was weighted by theatre capacity with the shortlist decided by number of public votes divided by number of venue seats.  Some larger venues polled thousands of votes but did not make the shortlist.  These included Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Millennium Forum (Theatre & Conference Centre), Derry/Londonderry, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Sage Gateshead and Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

MAIN IMAGE: 2012 UK Theatre Awards Winners at London’s Guildhall. Photo Credit: Alistair Muir