The Tobacco Factory Theatre is located on the first floor of the Tobacco Factory

Tobacco Factory

The Tobacco Factory is the last remaining part of the old Wills Tobacco site on Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol. It was saved from demolition by the architect George Ferguson and through his vision has become a model of urban regeneration...

 building on North Street, Bedminster in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and consists of an intimate 240-seat auditorium, box office, bar, and seating area. Since its inception in 1998, there have been performances by the Show of Strength Theatre Company

Show of Strength Theatre Company

Sheila Hannon and Nick Thomas co-founded the company in Bristol in 1986, and it began as a two-handed company performing in small touring venues. In 1989 the company moved into an upstairs reception room above the Hen and Chicken pub in Bedminster. In the succeeding years they produced five...

, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, the Royal National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

, The Ministry of Entertainment and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...

. The theatre has also produced in-house family Christmas productions including Pinocchio and Ali Baba.
The auditorium is highly flexible and the seating can be configured in a conventional front-on layout, theatre in the round

Theatre in the round

Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...

, or a thrust stage

Thrust stage

In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area...

 format.

The Brewery

The Brewery opened its doors for the first time on 29 August 2009. Previously an old tyre garage, the building is only 150 meters down the road from the Tobacco Factory and houses an intimate 90-fixed-seat theatre, studio, bakery, brewery and visitors' centre. The Brewery is used to house many different forms of theatre from childrens' theatre to magicians; new local production companies to new writing.

Previous Shows

2010-2011 - Pinocchio

2009-2010 - Ali Baba and the Forty Theives

2008-2009 - A Christmas Carol

2007-2008 - Alice Through The Looking Glass

Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory

Now in its twelfth year, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory is a professional, unsubsidised production company mainly producing Shakespeare in intimate settings. Due to the Tobacco Factory Theatre's flexibility, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory perform their shows in the round. Apart from their double-bill of Shakespeare during February–April, they produce plays by authors such as Middleton, Chekhov and Moliere. Previous Shakespeare productions include King Lear

King Lear

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...

, A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

and A Comedy of Errors. In 2011, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory will be producing their first history play — Richard II

Richard II

-People:*Richard II of England , King of England.*Richard II of Normandy , Duke of Normandy*Richard II of Aquila *Richard II of Capua *A nickname for Richard M...

.