TV stars back theatre's £25m plan

The refurbished venue will have a 1,200-seat auditorium

Two stars of British stage and screen acting have added their support to a campaign to redevelop a Kent theatre.

Prunella Scales and Timothy West have become patrons of the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, which is preparing for a£25.5m transformation project.

Permission for a 1,200-seat auditorium and a second 150-seat performance space was granted by Canterbury City Council in August.

The theatre hopes to raise another £6m from private donations in three years.

Timothy West, who starred in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House, said during a tour of the building: "It's going to be a magnificent building which I think is going to make Canterbury very proud of it."

Prunella Scales and Timothy West are backing The Marlowe

His wife Prunella Scales, a star of Fawlty Towers, said: "Television has fed theatre because people who have seen you in television will take the giant leap from the pavement into the building to see you in something else.

"I think television can and has simulated interest in live theatre."

Other patrons include actors Joanna Lumley and Orlando Bloom, who appeared at the theatre early on in his career, and musician and TV presenter Jools Holland.

The majority of the funding is coming from Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council, and the South East England Development Agency.

The Marlowe is scheduled to close early next year and to reopen in 2011.