June 2003: Venue of the Month (1)

Eden Court is the only large scale theatre in the Highlands and as such my aim is very simple – that we put on as wide a range of high quality entertainment as we can and that everyone that lives in the Highlands wants to come and see something here. I want to bring the best of international performers to the Highlands but I also want the best work being produced in the Highlands, both amateur and professional, to be seen here.

I want people to be able to see events that they are comfortable and familiar with but I also want some of the performances to challenge and stimulate the audience. The same ideas apply to our cinema programme where we aim to present an alternative to other cinemas in the Highlands. I hope that everything we present is of high quality but as we present around 150 different live performances and a similar number of films we do occasionally make mistakes.

Eden Court also offers education work and opportunities to participate in dance and drama. This ranges from “Bunny Beats” and “Tiny Tunes” (dance and music for 3-4 year olds) to adult dance and drama classes to a formal higher drama qualification. We have ten staff, based throughout the Highlands, who work in schools and communities offering drama, dance and craft tuition and also run intensive courses during school holidays. Perhaps this side of our work and the live performances come together best in the performances and films for young people which are nearly always accompanied by workshops.

I also hope that Eden Court looks after its audiences and that they feel able to tell us what we are good at, where we could improve and what performances they would like to see. Plenty of people already do so, but the more feedback we get the happier I am.

We publish four guides to our events “Eden Court” for all the live performances, “Cinema at Eden Court”, “Kids @ Eden” for up to 12 year olds and “Edge of Eden” for over 12s. They are all free and can be picked up at Eden Court and other places or by joining our free mailing (just ask the box office on 01463 234234).

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