New Theatre Royal Review

Saw Seth Lakeman here, lovely cosy venue, really feel part of the action. Very friendly staff and bar not ridiculously expensive.

Lovely little theatre. Recently saw Jason Donovan here and Joseph here with Joe Mcelderry. Plenty of leg room. Drinks are reasonably priced. Staff are all wonderfully friendly, they even clap and dance along! Take note Kings Theatre and Guildhall!

Good performances, theatre is very much in need of some maintenance with large parts of the architecture missing.

The ambiance of the theatre was amazing. The performance was outstanding and definitely good value for money. The place is clean and the staff friendly and helpful. Looking forward to going again

Lovely theatre staff friendly good views go by train easy to get to

Fantastic performance of soonchild seen today. The theatre itself was beautiful inside and gave booster seats for little ones. The bar was well staffed to take payments for the pay as you can show and the ushers were kind and helpful. Wonderful venue.

Never been in before and was shocked of the beauty of the place

In May 2018 I visited Portsmouth and walked round most of the city visiting the Historic dockyard also. I parked in the Park and Ride car park and jumped on a bus into Portsmouth. The first stop being St. Johns Catholic Cathedral in Bishop Crispian Way, Portsmouth PO1 3HQ. Followed by the Victoria Park an oasis in the middle of a built up city, 3 Stanhope rd, Portsmouth PO1 3QL Portsmouth then next was the City Council buildings Civic Offices, Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth PO1 2AL. There are so many interesting places to see around this part of Portsmouth.
The city's history can be traced back to Roman times. A significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth has the world's oldest dry dock and was England's first line of defence during the French invasion in 1545. Special Palmerston Forts were built in 1859 in anticipation of another invasion from continental Europe. By the early-19th century, Portsmouth was the most heavily fortified city in the world, and was considered the world's greatest naval port at the height of the British Empire. The world's first mass production line was set up in the city, making it the most industrialised site in the world. During the Second World War, the city was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 930 people. In 1982, a large proportion of the task force dispatched to liberate the Falkland Islands deployed from the city's naval base. Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia left the city to oversee the transfer of Hong Kong in 1997, which marked for many the end of the empire.
Portsmouth is one of the world's best known ports. HMNB Portsmouth is considered to be the home of the Royal Navy and is home to two-thirds of the UK's surface fleet. The city is home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor Mary Rose and Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory ( he world's oldest naval ship still in commission ) The former HMS Vernon naval shore establishment has been redeveloped as a retail park known as Gunwharf Quays. Portsmouth is among the few British cities with two cathedrals: the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist. The waterfront and Portsmouth Harbour are dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, one of the United Kingdom's tallest structures at 560 feet ( 170 mtr ). Nearby Southsea is a seaside resort with a pier amusement park and medieval castle.
Victoria Park was the first public park to be opened in Portsmouth. When the fortifications around Portsea were levelled, land was obtained by the Corporation from the War Office for a peoples park. Victoria Park was designed by Alexander McKenzie and was opened on 25th May, 1878. Situated just to the north of Portsmouth Guildhall, across the railway lines, is this beautiful Park. This park covers almost 15 acres and is planted with trees, shrubs and flowers. Victoria Park is flanked to the west by the towering glass clad ex Zurich Insurance building. To the south by the Guildhall and University buildings formerly the Municipal College. To the east, across Anglesea road are more University buildings and Naval establishments and finally to the north on Edinburgh Road is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John.
Guildhall Walk has many beautiful old buildings such as The Isambard Kingdom Brunel pub, Brewhouse and Kitchen pub, New Theatre Royal, The Astoria Night club then onto the modern buildings of University of Portsmouth University House, Winston Churchill Ave, Portsmouth PO1 2UP. Hampshire, England.

Amazing staff and service! Although a small theatre it has a great atmosphere and some brilliant shows!

Great job has been done getting this back from a derelect shell to a great theatre

I love this theatre and everything about it. They host varied, professionally produced shows that appeal to a wide range of audiences. The backstage facilities are modern, bright and fresh. The production capabilities are state of the art. Community arts and culture are of tremendous importance, and are supported by a passionate and knowlegeable trustee and volunteer group. Portsmouth University are a partner and have part of their campus in the theatre. Naomi Gibbs is the costume designer and is an awesome and fabulous woman in her own right. Scott Ramsay has an ambitious vision for the theatre, which is rightfully succeding. I look forward to this success being more widely recognised both locally and nationally.

A lovely old matcham theatre. In need of continued restoration but full of character.

Love the decor. The ambiance. Feels like going back in time.

Can't fault the place for a fantastic show in home town...



However lovely to see such a jewel of Portsmouth do well patronised.. and I've just seen 2 more shows to book up..well done

Nice atmosphere but quite run down. The chairs were fine for me but my 6ft friend struggled to fit in them

Went to see Russell Howard at the theatre. Brilliant .I have never laugh so much. The theatre it self. seats were very comfortable . Staff were very helpful.just Need more toilets.

Delicious food, great value in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

The staff were lovely (although some could have cracked a smile) and it is a beautiful building.
The bench seating is so uncomfortable and you are very tightly packed, I'd personally say its unsafe being so high up with so many trip hazards.
The place really needs some air conditioning, we couldn't breathe. So many people left because of the heat, it would be lovely if they could do something about it. I know we'd go back more often.
But it is a lovely place and the show (Russell Howard) was fantastic.

No easy access for the elderly - not good as most of the audience were over 70. Many struggled to negotiate the stairs.

Really not great if you've got a pushchair, which was the case for lots of customers taking their kids here for a Sarah & Duck theatre production. They offered no step free access and no dedicated space to park buggies. Production company should probably consider a better suited venue.

Lovely theatre. Bits and bobs need a bit of tlc and deep cleaning, but overall lovely venue.

Lovely little theatre easy to get to from train station lots of character makes the events even more enjoyable

Went to see Jethro very funny man. Lovely little theatre helpful staff

Fabulous evening again, in a beautiful theatre. Staff are extremely helpful and cheerful.

The condition of the building is terrible, as after the war. It was a pity to look at the shabby chairs with glued sweets, some burnt walls, the chandelier was removed. The performance itself was reminiscent of a concert in a village club, at best a reporting concert of a dance school. But as a study guide for children is good. The second time I would not go.

Very old venue, but quaint and they get some decent shows on throughout the year. Quite handy for me if there's something I fancy as not too far away. Staff always friendly

This is a lovely theatre with plenty of entertainment going on for people of all ages. I love the plays that are performed here, as well as the live music and comedy events that go on.

Great venue, and guildhall seeing a bit of a resurgence is always welcome (7bone burgers in particular)!!!

Great staff, beautiful theatre, always live coming here.

The Some Mother's Do Have email is/was superb. Very slick indeed.

Great place to watch a play, band, musical. The theatre has some fantastic architecture and art work, some of this needs renovation work carried out to restore it. Please visit the New Theatre Royal as it would be a great loss to the city if it where to close.

We went to see ,,Jungle book" and it was briliant. A lot of fun for us adults as well as for kids. Not very comfy sitting, but otherwise very nice. Thank you.

A grand old style theatre in Southsea.
This theatre has some great shows on and has a good atmosphere, with good staff
Recommended

Fantastic venue for devised theatre and I love the pay what you can season. More venues should follow suit with this approach as it really does work. Looking forward to seeing what else you bring and perhaps you could offer an artists in residence for smaller companies??

Lovely little theatre. Great architecture in the actual theatre and they serve during recess local produced ice cream

Quite narrow seating and quite claustrophobic feeling

It is a great venue with a wonderful interior, hope they can work on the sound system as at times it was difficult to hear Reg D Hunter and we were in the stalls

Beautiful theatre with many amazing original features.

My 1st visit and was very impressed as it's just been renovated. Very comfortable seating and viewing.

Upstairs not good. You can barely see the stage from the sides.

The customer service at this Theatre was amazing. I had purchased tickets through a 3rd party site which turned out to be invalid.. the lady at the box office couldnt do enough to find us alternative tickets and helped us get a full refund from the site. Will definitely be booking direct in future

Great little theatre and a great Christmas show alternative.

Beautiful theatre, great acoustics , fantastic staff/volunteers

Fantastic performances, amazing staff, always a good time, and a great way to enjoy the evening, would definitely recommend!!!

Lovely theatre, ushers need to work harder at keeping chatting theatre goers quiet at the back. We were in the dress circle last night and it was like Piccadilly circus up there. Three folk just talking all the way through the performance.

Seats were comfortable. Nice and warm inside as well, entrances can get a little crammed.

Russell Howard was fantastic a real good honest comedian.

A great venue presenting touring theatre, dance and music. You can watch the likes of Ballet Black and Motionhouse as well as popular drama The Woman in Black and Great Expectation.