Comeback planned for city theatre

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A Gloucester theatre built in the 1920s is making a comeback after coming close to dereliction.

A Gloucester theatre built in the 1920s is making a comeback after coming close to dereliction.

The New Olympus Theatre has been awarded a £74,000 grant to paper over its ageing cracks.

After going through several changes, what started as Palmer's Picturedrome on Barton Street morphed into an amateur theatre in the 1980s.

With its first professional production in rehearsal it is hoped the new venue will become the heart of the community.

The theatre was given a makeover by Anneka Rice as part of the now infamous Challenge Anneka TV programme in 1991.

Then after nearly 20 years the amateur company, The Gods, decided to sell it off.

Two businessmen, believing it could help the local community, bought it two years ago and plan to build an extension to house a studio theatre.