Congleton’ Daneside Theatre has said it is “very happy” to announce that it will be re-opening to show films this weekend.
The first film will be Military Wives (12A) on Sunday at 7pm. This is one of the films it was forced to cancel when it went into lockdown in March last year.
The theatre will be seating its audience in a socially-distanced manner with spaces between all groups, which means it is limited to 100 seats at any performance, at least until the next relaxation of Government rules.
Tickets remain at £5 and are available from Congleton Information Centre in person or over the phone on 01260 271 095.
Military Wives stars Kristen Scott-Thomas, Sharon Horgan and Emma Lownes.
Inspired by the phenomenon of the original Military Wives choir, it celebrates a group of women in England whose partners are away serving in Afghanistan. Faced with the men’s absences, they form a choir and quickly find themselves at the centre of a media sensation and global movement.
Over the lockdown period, Daneside has bought and installed its own projector, screen and new sound equipment. This means that it will be able to show many more films than previously.
It plans to show up to 10 films a month, mostly on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, when time is available in the theatre calendar.
It will also be available to hire for groups to show films on the big screen.
Over the next few weeks, until the covid-19 restrictions are fully lifted, the theatre will be showing one film per week on Sunday nights.
So far it is planning on catching up with last year’s films, showing 1917 (directed by Sam Mendes) and Six Minutes to Midnight (with Judy Dench and Eddie Izzard). Other titles will be announced shortly.
Since it will not be a full-time cinema, it will be restricted to showing new films about six weeks after their release dates but plans to show series of older films as well. This could be the back catalogue of James Bond, Harry Potter, Marvel super heroes, science fiction or horror.
The Daneside is also exploring films for young people during the school holidays.
A spokesman said: “To a certain extent it is up to our audience to tell us what they would like to see. Email contactus@danesidetheatre.co.uk to let us know.”
• Daneside is still looking for new volunteers to help with stewarding and projectionists. Anyone interested should get in touch. Use the same email address: contactus@danesidetheatre.co.uk
