Twelve-seat theatre housed in former public toilet saved by local college

A former public toilet in Worcestershire, thought to be the UK’s smallest theatre, has had its future secured by a local college.

The future of the 12-capacity Theatre of Small Convenience, in Malvern, was thrown into uncertainty when Dennis Neale, founder and manager of the venue since 1999, retired in 2017. The theatre has not been used since.

Malvern Hills College, part of Warwickshire College Group, Worcestershire, has now agreed with Malvern Hills District Council to take over the lease of the venue.

A re-opening ceremony for the theatre on May 21 saw Neale hand over the key of the performance space to the college’s chief executive and group principal Angela Joyce.

The theatre, which started life as a Victorian gentlemen’s public toilet, entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s smallest commercial theatre in 2002. However, this was overtaken in January this year by a theatre with eight seats in Austria.

Joyce said: “Malvern Hills College has a rich heritage of supporting the creative arts and the Theatre of Small Convenience will provide a unique opportunity for our students.

“We are delighted to take over the reins of this well-known theatre and look forward to working with the community through a number of performances and exhibitions.”

Neale added: “I hope that by handing over this little theatre, fresh talent will be inspired and a new generation of young people will get involved in performance and storytelling.

“My dream is that tiny theatres like this will be opened all over the country.”

The college is planning to use the theatre for events including exhibitions, talks, performances and sales. Its first exhibition entitled Think Big, Start Small by Fine Art and Craft Foundation Degree students opens on May 25.