White Rock Theatre — Restaurant in Hastings

The original East Sussex Hospital was replaced with the White Rock Pavilion which was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in April 1927. It was built for the Hastings Municipal Orchestra. The pavilion underwent a further re-modification in 1937 and again in 1985 when it was renamed the White Rock Theatre. The auditorium is split on two levels – The Stalls and The Circle with an overall capacity of 1082 seats or 1620 for standing/seated events. The Stalls is also split into flat and raked seating areas. The stage is 47 feet (14 m) wide and 31.6 feet (9.6 m) deep, with a 1/28 rake. The seating capacity used to be 1066 (after the Battle of Hastings, but in early 2019 the capacity and layout was increased to allow more flexibility to the venue. From its very beginning Hastings Borough Council ran the Theatre. As the years went by and the Theatre continued to run at a loss, the council decided to close the Theatre down. This announcement was met with the fierce opposition from local people and groups rallied round in support of the White Rock. In May 2002 Clear Channel Entertainment, a huge American organisation, took over management of the venue. In December 2005 Clear Channel Entertainment was spun off from the main body of Clear Channel and became Live Nation. On February 1, 2009, HQ Theatres took over as operator of the White Rock in partnership with Hastings Borough Council.

Performances

The Theatre has seen a selection of entertainment over the years including Motörhead, Russell Brand, Hot Chocolate, Eartha Kitt, Al Murray, Geri Halliwell, Jools Holland, Derren Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Tim Vine and Greg Davies. It also hosts an annual pantomime.

Current activity

The venue houses a Café, the Stalls bar and the Circle Bar. Also part of the venue is the Campbell Room and Sussex Hall – both used for community groups, corporate hospitality and...

What was bad: This place seemed absolutely manic. I entered to buy some tickets as a gift and there was a show about to start. A member of staff walked backwards into my child nearly knocking him over and there were different queues forming to different entrances, ticket booths and merchandise stands. It had a disabled entrance, but how on earth a disabled person would have been able to safely enter the building is beyond me. And the decor has not been updated for decades, it looks exactly the same as when I visited as a child. When I got to the front of the queue I was asked for my personal details in order to buy the tickets with no explanation as to why my data was needed and how it would be used: this is against GDPR. The technology they were using was very slow and the system deleted all my information so the poor woman had to start again. The woman adjacent to me was very distressed as she'd bought and paid for a large volume of tickets which couldn't be found on the system.

What's good: the quality and quantity of shows has hugely improved! Especially the levels of comedy show and kids shows. They certainly cater to a much wider audience than they have done in the past. Externally the building has been maintained well, it is an important part of the identity of the town and so it is good to see the external decor maintained. Their events guide is produced well and highlights a wide array of affordable choices heightening accessibility. And even though the decor was outdated, it was very clean and tidy.

I think there is a certain level of expectation for show times to be busy and perhaps if I'd come at a different time I'd have had a smoother experience. However, that does somewhat put me off of attending a show there. I do think they should make customers aware of why/how/where data is being stored so as to...

Very restricted small seating spaces. Fantastic staff and they really do this venue justice. As a Disabled access ticket holder staff were so very accommodating and even offered me a quiet room for when I became overwhelmed in the busy environment. As for the venue quality itself, I'd say abit out dated, very small and restricted in most areas. I'm not wheelchair restricted so was placed among normal seating but if you struggle with anxiety and being in close proximity of the public then I'd perhaps suggest booking out the wheelchair access area. I did have to leave due to the small and very close proximity of people. The seating wasn't easy to leave nor resturn and I felt too conscious/embarrassed to freely get up when I needed to , so that ultimately resulted in me leaving the show early.

Burlesque; Amazing talented performers.... however as for a visual show, there could've been more invested in the props, backdrop and also live musicians. It was all unfortunately a Backing track, however, Amazing live vocals. Visually needed more razzle dazzle, but the talent of the...