words & books
The Maltings Arts Theatre
*NEW* Tickets for all performances at the Maltings Arts Theatre can be bought online here.
The Maltings Arts Theatre (MAT) is an intimate venue that hosts a wide variety of theatre, fringe productions, dance, spoken word, stand-up comedy, films, gigs, classical concerts, children's theatre and activities for children and young people.
Every Saturday at 3pm touring productions present children's shows from traditional fables to popular modern tales using song, dance, mask and puppetry.
MAT also provides art and drama clubs, holiday workshops and parties for 5-to-12-year-olds. Join the free mailing list, or become a member for special events, a newsletter and ticket offers (student £2.50, individual £5, family £10).
Funded by St Albans City and District Council
Overview
| Facilities: | Disabled access, Disabled toilets, Baby changing, Café, Licensed bar, Venue for hire, Children's parties, Private parties, Corporate events |
| Venue Type: | Arts centre, Theatre |
| Activities: | Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Poetry, Singing, Special events in school holidays, Storytelling / Storytime |
| Dates & Times: | Box office: Mon to Sat 10am-5pm & 45 minutes prior to performances. Cafe & Bar: Mon to Sat 10am-4.45pm & 45 minutes prior to evening shows. Sunday closed |
| Hire information: | Spaces for small to medium sized events. |
Contact details
- Business Name:The Maltings Arts Theatre
- Address:Level 2, The Maltings
- Town:St Albans
- County:Herts
- Postcode:AL1 3HL
- Telephone:01727 844222
- Fax:01727 836637
- Contact:Lucy Godfrey - Manager
- Email:maltings.arts@stalbans.gov.uk
- Web:www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-entertainment/Theatres/mat.aspx
- Web:www.myspace.com/maltings
- Map: View Map
Recent reviews
Knife Edge (Hard Graft Theatre) 6 May 10
Knife Edge by Mark Whiteley is a thought-provoking piece of theatre. Brian Shelton, sensitively played by Howard Chadwick, is “just a normal bloke” whose son was stabbed to death months earlier. He believes he knows who did it, and has challenged him to a “duel to the death”. The audience is almost literally involved, addressed by the cast as attendees of the community meeting he has organised, and at which Brian hopes to flush out the killer.
Whiteley’s play is an interesting study of a family beset by grief, guilt, and in particular anger. Brian rails against the local community (“solidarity and all that”), the press, the police, and the ‘killer’, but is also racked with guilt, and apparently unable to communicate with his wife and daughter. John Elkington excels as the be-cardiganed, local reporter, whose job is to be impartial, to “sit and watch”. He is reluctantly drawn into the centre of the action – his bloody nose literal as well as metaphorical. Whiteley subtly asks questions about the role of the press – at best campaigning, in this instance on knife crime, but at worst happy to betray principles and become a player in the action in order to get an exclusive.
Adam Sunderland’s direction is strong – the play is taut, well-paced, and laced with beautifully judged moments of black comedy. But it is the rawness of his wife Jane’s (Jill Myers) hurt, anger and anxiety, and Brian’s dramatic confrontation with the initially cocky young ‘lieutenant’, Danny, a role in which Nicky Bell is all too believable, that become the central drivers of the play. Fittingly for a play with such dark themes, the drama is bookended by music from the man in black, Johnny Cash. Knife Edge packs a powerful, compelling, angry and emotional punch.
Verdict: King of Herts (4 out of 5)
by Herts Critic
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