One of the city’s finest live performance playgrounds The Wardrobe Theatre, located inside The Old Market Assembly, is celebrating 10 years in its Old Market home. Here, its devoted team reflects on more than 4,000 performances that have stormed its tiny-but-mighty stage, shining the spotlight on the venue’s vital contribution to Bristol’s creative scene. Image above: Barleycorn
Ten years ago, a former bank-cum-cabaret bar in Old Market reopened its doors as a new pub-café-restaurant with a 100-seat hand-build fringe theatre squeezed in the back. As The Wardrobe Theatre and The Old Market Assembly mark a decade in their Old Market home, the venue stands as a testament to what Bristol can build when creativity and collaboration are given room to thrive.
The Wardrobe Theatre’s origins stretch back to 2011 in a cramped upstairs room at The White Bear pub on St Michael’s Hill. The founders – a group of young, local theatre-makers – expected to run a short-lived pop-up theatre but the attic space quickly developed a devoted following.
“It was only supposed to be a pop-up,” recalls now Artistic Director and CEO Matthew Whittle. “But artists and audiences loved it, so we kept finding ways to keep it open and running for longer and longer.”
With just 50 seats, volunteer staff and £5 ticket prices, the theatre became an unlikely incubator for emerging talent. Regulars squeezed up narrow staircases to watch everything from offbeat new writing to burlesque, to the fledgling episodes of what would become Closer Each Day: The Improvised Soap Opera, now the UK’s longest-running show outside of London.
A new door opens
By 2015, it was clear The Wardrobe Theatre had outgrown its temporary home. The team began the search for a venue that could offer stability without losing the intimacy and scrappy energy that had defined the theatre from the start. Their search led them to Old Market and a disused bank that had more recently operated as a cabaret venue.
“When we saw the space, it just felt right,” says co-founder and Technical Director Chris Collier. The feeling was immediate but the work that followed was anything but straightforward. Funding arrived unpredictably. Building schedules slipped. Budgets wobbled. But volunteers – friends, family, old colleagues and fellow artists – showed up daily with tools in hand. “We were still fundraising while we were building, so half the time I didn’t know what we could afford,” Chris says. “But every day, people walked through the door willing to help. Everyone gave what they could.”
What emerged was a theatre quite literally built by its community: repurposed wood, mismatched chairs, hand-painted surfaces and enough personality to fill a space twice its size. The team worked long into the nights to prepare for their opening show – one of The Wardrobe Theatre’s now-famous Christmas mash-ups, Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears. When the show opened in December 2015, it sold out its run, and the venue immediately became a fixture in Bristol’s cultural landscape.
“The old theatre was tiny – we sold tickets from a table in the pub,” remembers Theatre Manager and Artist Development Producer, Aisha Ali. “Moving to Old Market felt huge by comparison and the community-built nature of it made it feel even more special. That spirit has stayed with us.”
Over the past decade, The Wardrobe Theatre has staged more than 4,000 performances. Its programme spans theatre, comedy, storytelling, drag, puppetry and cabaret, and its audience now tops 35,000 every year. Its monthly Story Slam has become a citywide staple, offering a platform for ordinary people to share true stories live on stage, with more than 1,800 storytellers having taken part since its launch. Regular nights such as The Shade Pullers & Lash Stackers Social Club, Chuckle Busters comedy, Milk Poetry, Kiota, Lost Cabaret and Aftermirth have established the venue as a creative home for collectives across Bristol.
The Wardrobe Theatre’s annual Christmas mash-ups have become something of a legend: Reservoir Mogs, Muppits Die Hard, The Good, The Bad & The Coyote Ugly – irreverent, chaotic hybrids blending cult films, classic tales and anarchic humour. These productions, devised and performed by Bristol artists, capture the theatre’s ethos: playful, inventive and proudly fringe.
Survival skills
The venue’s growing reputation has not been without challenge. In March 2020, as the pandemic forced theatres nationwide to close, The Wardrobe Theatre cancelled hundreds of performances. “It was devastating,” Matthew says. “But we had to adapt.” Partnering with Sharp Teeth Theatre, the team produced Sherlock In Homes, a digital interactive detective show that unexpectedly found international audiences, reaching viewers across Europe, Australia and Brazil. “It connected families who were miles apart,” Matthew says. “That felt important.” For Aisha, those months were a lesson in resilience. “We didn’t know if we’d survive,” she admits. “The Cultural Recovery Fund helped but the real support came from artists, volunteers and audiences who refused to let the theatre disappear.” Safely reopening in 2021, the venue introduced social distancing and reconfigured entry routes to keep audiences and artists protected. The return was cautious but deeply felt.
Giulia Bernacchi, LK Reed, Kate Stokes, Daisy Kennedy, Matthew Whittle, Luke Mallison
Today, The Wardrobe Theatre operates as a registered charity with a small core team supported by volunteers and trustees. Despite growth, the organisation retains the same mission that guided its early years: to make live performance accessible, affordable and artist-led. More than 80% of its programme is from Bristol-based artists and its ITCH platform remains a vital space for work-in-progress performances.
“It started as an unknown,” Chris says. “Now it’s about celebrating what we built together. Every corner represents someone’s time, sweat or kindness.” Aisha agrees. Her own creative practice has shifted from performing to composing and artist development, but the thrill remains. “Watching someone you’ve supported share their work – that’s magic,” she says.
As the theatre looks to the future, its ambitions are clear: expand support for artists, nurture bold new work and continue reflecting Bristol’s creativity in all its variety. Or, as Aisha puts it simply, “We’re lucky – lucky to work with clever, silly, caring people in a city we love. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Check out what’s on at The Wardrobe Theatre on its website thewardrobetheatre.com | The Old Market Assembly, 25 West Street, Old Market, BS2 0DF
