The Congress Theatre is the principal theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 in Torfaen

Torfaen

Torfaen is a county borough in Wales within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It was originally formed in 1974 as a district of the county of Gwent and in 1996 it was reconstituted as a unitary authority.-Education:...

. It is located in Cwmbran Shopping Centre

Cwmbran Shopping Centre

Cwmbran Shopping Centre is the second largest shopping centre in Wales. It is located in Cwmbran, Torfaen. Unlike some large shopping centres on the outskirts of towns and cities, Cwmbran Town Shopping Centre is in its own designated area in the centre of all the districts and neighbourhoods...

, Cwmbran

Cwmbran

Cwmbrân is a new town in Wales. Today forming part of the county borough of Torfaen and lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbrân was established in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield. Cwmbrân means Crow...

 in the centre's large Gwent Square. The front of the building is dominated by a large clock with two figures named Dai and Myfanwy.

Facilities

The theatre has a fairly large auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

that hosts various plays, shows and concerts. There is also a café-bar adjacent to the auditorium.

Performances

The theatre plays host to various in-house stage groups and external performances. Regular stage groups include the Cwmbran Woodland Players and the Congress Youth Theatre.

The Theatre boasts a lighting rig accessible by catwalk, with 12 way 16A IWB with internal DMX and various hanging points across 12 RSJ's. The theatres luminaire stock is currently in the process of being updated.

Threat of closure

Faced with closure in the mid-1990s, the theatre's fortunes have increased substantially over the last ten years. However, there is still much more work to be done to convert the Congress into a premier performance venue.