Nottingham Arts Theatre

George Street Particular Baptist Church was built in 1815 by the architect Edward Staveley with seating for 1000 people. It was bought by the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) in 1946 to house the Co-op choral, operatic and drama groups. Mostly voluntary labour was used to turn the building into a community theatre known initially as The People’s Theatre in 1948 but later renamed The Co-operative Arts Theatre. In 1999, CWS announced its intention to close the theatre and sell its prime city centre site for re-development. Nottingham Arts Theatre Limited, an educational charity, was created in partnership Nottingham City Council and the Broadway Media Centre to purchase the building and continue as a community theatre. Surviving a threat of closure in 2007, the theatre now has a raised stage area with tiered seating for 300, four dressing rooms and fully equipped lighting and sound facilities. In 2015, it entered into a new partnership with the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, a Nottingham-based centre for creative industry education and training.