The Criterion Theatre is a small producing theatre off Berkeley Road South in Earlsdon, run by Criterion Theatre Ltd, a registered charity descended from the Criterion Players formed in 1955. Members built and maintain the venue themselves, and the company stages a full season of plays each year, from classic drama and comedy through to contemporary and studio work, supplemented by youth theatre and occasional visiting events. The auditorium is intimate, seating well under two hundred, which gives productions an unusually close relationship with the audience. Everything from set building to front of house is handled by volunteers, and the bar is members-run. Because it owns and programmes its own building continuously, it works as a functioning community theatre rather than an occasional hire space, and it has been a fixture of Earlsdon's cultural life across seven decades.
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