Tucked away above street level on Jameson Road in Winton, Bournemouth Little Theatre Club is a proudly amateur company that has been staging plays in the town since the 1920s. It moved into its current purpose-adapted home in 1975 and took its present name in 1992, when the club formalised itself as a private company limited by guarantee; it has been a registered charity since 1993. Everything, from acting and directing to front-of-house and set building, is done by volunteers.
The theatre
The auditorium seats 95, largely on tiered, ex-cinema tip-up seats salvaged for the conversion, with a handful of bench seats at the back. It's an intimate space that suits the company's mix of main-house and studio productions, and there's a Green Room Bar and an interval refreshments area serving tea and coffee, so evenings here have the feel of a proper night at the theatre rather than a village hall run-through.
Visiting
There's no parking at the theatre itself, so it's worth arriving in good time to find a space in the surrounding streets, or catching a Yellow Buses service (4, 4a, 5 or 5a) to the stops on nearby Wimborne Road. The auditorium and bar are up a flight of stairs on the first floor, with no lift, so the venue isn't accessible to wheelchair users. Tickets for main productions and studio shows are sold online through Ticketsource, with reduced rates for members.
It's one of the quieter cultural gems just inland from the seafront, explore more of the area in our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.