Venue: Tobacco Factory Theatre
Address: Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol, Bristol, BS3 1TF, England
Town: Bristol, GB

Tobacco Factory Theatres is located on the first floor of the Tobacco Factory building on the corner of North Street and Raleigh Road, Southville in Bristol, England. The venue has two performance spaces - The Spielman Theatre (a flexible studio space for up to 72 people) and The Factory Theatre (the main house consisting of a studio-style space with a low ceiling and fixed grid with structural pillars which intrude into the acting area). There is also a bar/foyer area, meeting rooms and Box Office. The main theatre can seat up to 350 people, although usually it has a capacity of about 250. The programme includes classic and contemporary theatre, comedy, dance, puppetry, film, opera, music and family shows. In 2012 over 100,000 people came through the theatre doors and the theatre is regularly attracting national critical acclaim. Tobacco was the main industry in South Bristol from the beginning of the twentieth century and at its peak around 40% of the local workforce worked in the Imperial Tobacco Factory. The relocation of Imperial Tobacco in the 1980s was devastating to the local area, causing massive unemployment and deprivation. The Tobacco Factory building itself fell into disrepair but was renewed from the late 1990s when George Ferguson acquired the building, inviting Show of Strength Theatre Company to use part of the first floor as a theatre space. The building became a mixed-use cultural space with a café-bar and a 250-seat studio theatre, under the name of Tobacco Factory Theatre. In 2005 the Tobacco Factory Theatres became a charitable trust and in 2007 it became a Key Arts Provider of Bristol City Council. It has expanded since 2008. It has made several capital improvements, including the installation of a renewable energy system. The theatre regularly attracts national critical acclaim. and has strong relationships with many individual artists, with venues and with theatre companies. It is particularly well known for productions by Shakespeare at the