Spotlight on… BEAM HERTFORD
BEAM opened in August 2024 as a new multi-cultural destination in Hertford, with a kitchen bar, the Stalls of the Main House Stage One and the Pit of Stage Two on the ground floor, while on the first floor are the cinema screens and bar and access to Stage One Circle and Stage Two Balcony. It is an East Herts Council run, £30 million redevelopment of the previously known Hertford Theatre, which seated four hundred, having opened in 1977. It was designed by Bennetts Associates and Citizens Design Bureau, and has already attracted several design awards.
It is an impressive looking building, well designed and appealing to look at as you approach along the River Lea and enter the foyer spaces. There is good leg room in the theatres with the popular slips in Stage One offering a private clear view of the stage, and the cinemas have a quality, luxury feel with their embroidered seat numbers.
BEAM Venue Director Steve Sargeant showed us around and beamed with pride at how the reopening the of the site, after a four-year closure with a permanent team of just twenty-two staff, had re-established the place and attracted new audiences. Against a national trend of smaller regional venues running growing deficits and in danger of closing over the next few years, Steve told us: “We are on track to provides surpluses back to the council as a return on their investment and will attract more touring week-long shows as our reputation grows.”
The build was funded by the Council with a decision taken to rebuild before Covid closed venues, meaning the work could commence while the rest of the country was shut down. It also meant that it reopened not fearful and depleted by Covid, but refreshed and energised with something new to offer the local community. Opening in 2024, it did not qualify for the Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation status in 2023-2026.
It was called BEAM after a project to find a name that embodied its values. BEAM is a ray of light seen from a projector in a cinema or a spotlight picking out a performer on stage and the venue seeks to bring people together through Arts and Culture. It seeks to throw a light on high quality work and light a creative spark in all who visit. They believe passionately, as we do, that these works can strengthen communities, boost wellbeing, and create a sense of belonging. It describes itself as “a playground for ideas.” BEAM shines a light on Hertford, putting it on the regional and national cultural map.
It seeks to promote inclusion, innovation, excellence, curiosity, playfulness, and most importantly they seek to safeguard arts and culture by running BEAM sustainably, actively seeking opportunities that strengthen the financial future, because they believe creativity deserves longevity. It is a very worthy and powerful philosophy that should be at the heart of all regional venues. In October 2025, it was awarded the UK Theatre Award for Excellence in Sustainability based on its construction choices, efficient lighting, and sustainable practise.
Stage One seats 547 (including six wheelchair positions) and Stage One seats 150, while the three screens seat 81, 65 and 54. There are also two social spaces: Social One on the first floor is seventy-nine square metres ideal for dance and drama schools, and large meetings or rehearsals, whilst Social Two on the ground floor is forty-eight square metres with views over the River Lea and suited for small classes or family parties. They are perhaps a few hundred seats short of an ideal size to attract producers but hope to deliver near capacity audiences to convince them to include the venue in their tours in the coming years. Currently, the theatres are programmed mainly with touring one nighters, but they do have Blood Brothers visiting from 5 May for the week which has virtually sold-out, and their own pantomime, co-produced with Imagine, Jack and the Beanstalk, is on sale and playing from 11 December 2026 – 3 January 2027. Other famous names visiting are Craig Revel Horwood on 25 April, Sir Ian Botham on 12 May, Sir Lenny Henry on 21 May, and Ruby Wax on 23 June.
Critical to their plans is that, although they operate as a department of the Council, the programming and marketing decisions are left to the theatre management team, overseen by a small Council Committee. They do publish an attractive glossy seasonal brochure but there is no box office on site and no box office phone line. Tickets are booked via their online presence, via terminals in the foyer, or through front of house staff handsets. The digital screens in the foyers are linked to the ticket database and can tailor promotions to the audiences that are checked into the building as well as constantly updating and refreshing, it gives the space a modern vibrant feel.
The Stage Two space offers a “Pay what you feel” offering for most events with a suggested price and alternative prices to make the events feel affordable.
The cinemas show recent releases such as Faraway Magic Tree and Project Hail Mary, which were running when we visited and all five theatrical spaces can be programmed for film, offering surround sound environments for both cinema and theatre.
On the Creative Learning programme, there is a range of activity like Little Voices East Hertfordshire where smaller class sizes give children the chance to explore singing, drama, and performance in a supportive environment and is all about creativity, confidence, and having fun! Classes run weekly on Tuesdays: Mini Voices 4:10pm – 4:40pm (aged 4-6); and Little Voices 4:50pm – 5:35pm and 5:45pm – 6:30pm (aged 7-12).
Connect, Create & Collaborate sessions invite actors, writers, directors and producers to explore new ideas, develop existing projects and collaborate in a safe, supportive space. Hosted by Mimic Theatre Company, the workshop are led by director and playwright Kim Southey. Participants have the opportunity to meet fellow creatives, enjoy prompts for creativity in the form of tool props/cards, improvisation and writing time, as well as receive support, advice, and crucial feedback from the group. The next session is on 21 May.
Steve told us that last year they “programmed 3500 events at the venue” with many local organisations hiring the various spaces for their events such as Mum and Baby exercise classes, The Mountview Certificate of Higher Education one year course, women centred wellbeing workshops, Little Bees music classes, and the Hertford Business Lounge were being promoted while we waited for the show we came to see to start.
We caught the matinee of The Sooty Show. This extraordinary cultural phenomenon started in 1948 when Harry Corbett bought a small bear hand puppet in Blackpool which first appeared on TV in 1952 and was joined by Sweep in 1957 and Soo in 1964. In 1968, it joined Thames TV until it lost its broadcast franchise in 1992. In 1998, it was taken over by magician Richard Cadell and still casts a spell over small children with its “Izzy whizzy, let’s get busy” spell as it has done over several past generations. The current theatre tour is presented by magician Russ Brown and circus performer Michael Jordan, singer Kazia, and also features the puppets Butch, Ramsbottom and Scampi as well as The Fantasie de La Nuit, a colourful ultraviolet blacklight show. It is fun packed children’s show true to the spirit of Sooty but developing the magical elements under Cadell’s directorship. It is participative, fast paced, and keeps all the young children engaged and enthralled. For the parents and grandparents, its nostalgic bringing back memories of the TV show with Sooty’s famous water pistol, Sweep’s squeaky voice, and the famous sign off phrase “Bye Bye Everybody, Bye Bye.” Indeed, it is Sweep that steals the show with his entrance on a remote-control car, dance routines, and memorable rendition of ‘Nessim Dorma’.
At a time when SOLT/UK are predicting a gloomy few years ahead for regional theatre, BEAM feels like an exemplar for a successful model of council run theatre. Well designed, efficiently run, programmed, and marketed by people who know the industry and their audiences and situating itself in the heart of the local community. Like Sooty, they know their audience, know they have to evolve with them to stay relevant, but that heritage and sustainability is crucial to their success. We left feeling that East Herts Council had waved its magic wand over the site and now the BEAM team just need to deliver like Sooty with a cry of “Izzy whizzy, let’s get busy” and the signs are that they are doing just that.
Nick Wayne