Comedian Tim FitzHigham to lead revival of St George's Guildhall in King's Lynn

Comedian and author Tim FitzHigham has been appointed in the newly created role of creative director to oversee the revival of St George’s Guildhall in King’s Lynn.

FitzHigham has also been made a cultural officer by Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, which gives him access to local authority’s meetings and resources. 

It follows the release of a vision for the redevelopment of King’s Lynn Arts Centre, which includes the Guildhall within it, by the council. 

St George’s Guildhall claims to be the only surviving venue in which Shakespeare is thought to have performed and is the UK’s oldest and largest remaining medieval Guildhall. 

FitzHigham told The Stage: "Taking me on as a cultural officer and creative director demonstrates a real commitment by the borough that this is a priority project and that they want to make this a centre piece of King’s Lynn.

"It should be a nationally important and known theatre, it’s the oldest working theatre in the UK, it’s first recorded performance is 1445."

FitzHigham and Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk are working in partnership with the National Trust, Norfolk Museums Service and Norfolk County Council to deliver the project. 

"We’ve got these really exciting plans that have been formulated through a very widespread, very well run community engagement and consultation," he added.

"We’ve asked people what they wanted to see, the people have spoken and we’ve listened and taken those [ideas] and turned them into a workable robust business plan that doesn’t require public subsidy."