THT.ie – Black Box Theatre Galway Ireland
Most of you may have heard about Galway. It is a city situated in County Galway in the Western part of Ireland. Galway lies on the River Corrib between Galway Bay and Lough Corrib. The city is popular for its extremely vibrant lifestyle. It is also well-known for hosting several festivals, events and celebrations throughout the year. Some of the popular events or festivals include The Galway Arts Festival. In the year 2018, it was named as the European Region of Gastronomy. At present, the city is the European Capital of Culture for the year 2020, alongside Rijeka, Croatia.
About Town Hall Theater Galway
The Town Hall Theater Galway has a 400-seater Main Auditorium. It also has a 52-seater Studio Space at Courthouse Square and the Black Box performance space that has a sitting capacity of 550 and a standing capacity of 800. The multi-purpose Black Box is located pretty nearby to the Courthouse Square on Dyke Road. It presents an eclectic and extensive mix of concerts, theater, dance, musicals, film, family shows and comedy. The best part about the venue is that it is open around 362 days every year for almost 15 hours a day. This feature makes it one of the most popular and successful theaters of its size in the country.
Every year you will find the Town Hall Theater Galway turning into an epicenter of activity for practically all the key festivals of the city, as well as cultural events. These include Galway Film Fleadh, Galway International Arts Festival, Galway Comedy Festival, Baboro Children’s Festival, and Cuirt Festival of Literature. Druid has successfully premiered several of their award-winning and popular productions at the venue. This was before it embarked on both international and national tours that included Broadway and West End runs. A great number of Galway International Arts Festival’s very own productions tour the entire world. This is following premiers at Black Box and Town Hall Theater Galway.
History
The building where the Town Hall Theater Galway is located, was basically erected in the year 1820. It first served as a Courthouse and later got transformed into a conventional Town Hall. During the 1950s, the building got transformed into a cinema and various types of film screenings took place over there until it finally fell into disrepair during the 1990s.
Galway City Council, which was then named as Galway Corporation, received grant from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. They used this grant to undertake a major refurbishment of the building during the mid-1990s. It was later officially opened as a municipal theater on the 1st of February 1996 by Michael D Higgins, who was the Minister of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, along with Michael O hUiginn, who was the Mayor of Galway.
The opening event of the newly inaugurated theater was the world premiere of The Beauty Queen of Leenane by martin McDonagh, which was the Druid production. The Town Hall restoration project was a huge £2.3 million program that also included the subsequent completion of the Black Box performance space. The theater is located right at the center of the city and feature a fine portico that basically overlooks the newly designed Courthouse Square.
Management
The Town Hall Theater Galway along with the Black Box are entirely owned and also managed by Galway City Council. Their program activities are also supported by The Arts Council.
How to Get To the Town Hall Theater Galway?
When it comes to arriving at the Town Hall Theater Galway, you basically have four options.
- On Foot: The Town Hall Theater Galway is situated at Courthouse Square Galway, which is barely 6 minutes walking distance from Eyre Square and around 10 minutes of walking distance from the train and bus stations of the city.
- By Bike: If you wish to reach the Town Hall Theater Galway by bike, there are 2 bike rails that you will find at Courthouse Square. The first one is outside St Nicholas Primary School and the other one at the side of the Courthouse. The officials of Galway request people visiting on bikes to use the bike rails and not to attach the bikes to the railings. You can also use the Coca Cola Zero Bike-Share Stations nearby, one opposite Galway Cathedral and the other at Woodquay.
- By Bus: Wish to reach the Town Hall Theater Galway by bus? You will find the closest bus stops on nearby St Francis Street. There are two bus services, City Direct and Bus Eireann that operate along several routes in the city. All the bus routes traveling to and from Westside and most of the cross-city routes pass pretty close to the Town Hall Theater.
- By Car: During the evenings, you will find plenty of street parking at Woodquay and in the environs of the Theater. However, it is still advisable that you have around 5-10 minutes extra in hand to find a proper space to part your car. You will obviously need to have more time if it is the time of a festival, especially Novena times. If you do not manage to find any empty spaces, you may try your luck at Galway Cathedral, which is around 5 minutes of walking distance and Dyke Road, which is approximately 7 minutes of walk.
If you are planning to book your seats, then there are 3 ways to go about making the reservations, you may either do the bookings online or by giving them a call. You may also visit the theater and book your seats at the box office.
The officials have a special child policy when it comes to their audiences. They allow children to enter only if they are accompanied by an adult. All children up to the age of two are allowed admittance without any charges. However, the children are only allowed for performances that are suitable for kids. If the performance is especially meant for kids below the age of two years, there will be an admission charge.
