U.K. theatre company Wise Children has acquired a permanent home, purchasing the former Portway Methodist Church in Frome. The company has dubbed the space "The Lucky Chance" and will use it to workshop new ideas and rehearse productions. The space will also serve as the base for The School for Wise Children, the company's training program.
Built in 1910, the church closed last year and will be refurbished by the company. Wise Children plans to share the space with the local artistic community, offering meeting and rehearsal space for "projects that chime with the company's values and ethos."
"Our new home will be a place to be proud of, a place to inspire, a place to host and place to dream," says Artistic Director Emma Rice. "We plan to invest our hearts, souls, minds, and skills into this home. In turn, it will invest in us. It will be the sail and the anchor as Wise Children navigates its unique and joyful course."
Founded in 2018 by Rice, Wise Children makes theatre that tours worldwide. The company presented a number of theatrical live streams in 2020, including Romantics Anonymous, Bagdad Cafe, and Wuthering Heights. That last title, based on the Brontë novel, will make its U.S. premiere Off-Broadway at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn later this year before heading to Berekely Rep, Wallis Annenberg, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in 2023.
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