PORTER’S

The Other Room is sad to announce that we are parting ways with our original host venue, Porter’s. This means that we are no longer moving into the bar’s new Barrack Lane building, as previously planned. We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Porter’s for their energy, support and faith. While it is hard to say goodbye, this decision has been made for the best of both organisations, and the audiences and communities of South Wales.

So what now? In the long term, we still believe it is important for The Other Room to have bricks and mortar, and the hunt has already begun for a new space in Cardiff. In the meantime, watch this space, because we have some exciting off-site projects taking place around Cardiff and further afield which we will be announcing soon!

You can read the full press release here:

Media Release

RELEASED Tuesday 20 February 2024

The Other Room announces parting of ways from Porter’s

Cardiff’s pub theatre The Other Room has today announced that the organisation will be parting ways with its original host venue Porter’s and will not be moving into the bar’s Barrack Lane building as previously planned.

Chair of The Other Room’s Board of Trustees Gareth Lucey comments,

“This is obviously quite a change of direction for The Other Room and we appreciate that there will be a lot of questions and uncertainty about this announcement. Essentially over the last few months, alongside feasibility studies, initial architect designs and capital fundraising, The Other Room and Porter’s have been discussing lease terms for TOR to inhabit the basement of the new Porter’s Barrack Lane venue and we have come to the amicable conclusion that the two organisations are less aligned now than they were when TOR was founded in 2014. We are still incredibly grateful to Porter’s for their support over the last almost 10 years - The Other Room would not exist without Porter’s. However, the circumstances and directions of both organisations have shifted over that time, and we have reached the point where a parting of ways will allow both TOR and Porter’s to reach their different potentials separately rather than in partnership.”

The Other Room will be announcing an off-site programme of productions and activity over the next couple of months and has already started the hunt for a new space in Cardiff. Artistic Director of The Other Room Dan Jones explains,

“While we are sad to be leaving our friends at Porter’s, we are also excited for the potential this change will bring. In the longer term, we do believe The Other Room needs a bricks and mortar venue in Cardiff, and for now that remains the ambition. We welcome anyone to get in touch with us if they would like a conversation around this.

In the short term however, we will experiment with different models of working to really interrogate how The Other Room fits into the theatre landscape of Cardiff, Wales and beyond. And in the meantime, there is still more to come from Lisa Zahra’s Baba Joon, and we have plans in place to produce work in a variety of alternative venues and spaces in Cardiff, elsewhere in Wales, and also across the border in England - basically watch this space as we’ll be releasing more information on upcoming projects very soon!”

To keep updated on The Other Room, you can follow the team on Instagram www.instagram.com/otherroomtheatre, Facebook www.facebook.com/otherroomtheatre and Twitter @TORtheatre.

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Notes for Editors

For further information please contact Jafar Iqbal, Producer for The Other Room on jafar@otherroomtheatre.com

The Other Room

The Other Room is Cardiff’s pub theatre. Founded in 2014, The Other Room is Wales’ smallest producing house, making visionary, distinctive theatre like nothing else in the Welsh capital. It is a small space where young artists have the freedom to take big risks; that celebrates Wales as a bilingual nation; and where new Welsh plays go toe-to-toe with the most revered established modern drama.

Within its theatre space in Porter’s Bar, The Other Room has presented a year-round programme that includes public performances, professional development opportunities and a wealth of enrichment activity. In the intimate theatre of 47 seats, TOR has brought audiences back to the live experience with an intensity no other venue in Wales has offered.

In its short history, The Other Room has received a plethora of acknowledgments and awards (including Fringe Theatre of the Year, 2016 Stage Awards; Best Production, Best Play, Best Director and Best Actor at the Welsh Theatre Awards for the theatre’s opening season in 2015; shortlisted in the Arts category of the Cardiff Life Awards in 2017 and 2020, and for the prestigious Peter Brook Empty Space Award in 2017), become the home for small-scale touring work in the Welsh Capital, and kick-started dozens of careers.

The Other Room is currently run by Artistic Director Dan Jones.

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