VillaGaiety is planning to apply to the Isle of Man Licensing Court to permanently extend the licensed area in the Gaiety Theatre to cover all public areas within the auditorium. As part of this application we will also look to obtain permission to license the kiosk, located adjacent to the entrances to the Dress Circle, to become a defined serving area. This will allow audiences to purchase drinks alongside sweets or snacks and take them back to their seats during an event where the sale of alcohol is available.
If you would like to share your feedback on this proposal, we invite you to complete a short online survey linked below, which should take no longer than five minutes to submit.
Gaiety Theatre Bar's survey available for feedback until midnight 30th September.
Please find below some further information in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) which we hope will be useful.
Why are we planning to extend the license of the theatre now?
Responsible for the management of VillaGaiety, Culture Division’s vision is to create a thriving Island community through inspiring our nation to participate, engage and access a lifetime of arts, entertainment, and creativity.
To grow our audience offering akin to other theatres worldwide, secure additional income for our venue’s future sustainability and support the enjoyment of theatregoing within the building it is our view that 2025, the 125th anniversary of the Gaiety Theatre, is the opportune year to enable alcoholic drinks to be consumed inside the auditorium.
Through extensive research into other Frank Matcham designed theatres we know that the Gaiety Theatre is an exception as a working theatre without a license to consume alcohol in the seated areas. Benefits from introducing the extended license into the Gaiety Theatre include:
Alongside benefits, we understand there are risks from introducing a licence such as spilling of drinks and potential unsocial behaviour due to alcohol consumption. With the change to the theatre’s license will also come the following mitigations:
Will the bars be open throughout every performance?
No. Bars will remain closed during theatre perfomances (except in rare instances such as bands / live music events) to ensure the audience is focused on the action on stage. Drinks will be available pre-show and during the interval to allow patrons to take their drinks back to their seats.
Alcohol will not be available for purchase for children’s or family performances and matinees.
What happens if someone is acting in an anti-social or inappropriate manner due to alcohol being consumed in the theatre?
As now within our licensing terms, for every Gaiety Theatre show there is a Responsible Person on site as well as a Duty Manager. The Friends of Gaiety Volunteers along with our causal team members know to report any inappropriate behaviour to these people who are appropriately trained. Any audience member behaving in a way which goes against the terms of our license or negatively impacts the experience of others in the theatre will be asked to leave the premises.
Will the introduction of alcohol damage the theatre’s careful restoration and or listed building status?
Spills already happen with ice-cream and other non-alcoholic refreshments consumed in the theatre by audiences on a regular basis. Our team will work to carefully maintain respectful behaviour of the theatre with alcohol consumption added in to this mix and rectify any damage caused from accidental drink spills or other incidents. Any person acting in a way which could potentially damage the building or hinder the enjoyment of other audiences inside the auditorium will be asked to leave.
If the application is successful, when will audiences be able to take an alcoholic drink to their seat?
We are planning to submit the application for the Licensing Court’s review in November, with the plan to undertake some preparatory works to adapt our bar operations during the annual January closure in 2025.
Alcoholic drinks will be available to be consumed inside the theatre for specific performances taking place from February 2025 onwards. We will carefully monitor the day-to-day impact of the extended license and review our bar provision, increased security, and cleaning to ensure effective implementation after three months of operations.
If you have any further questions or would like to share feedback not in the form of the online survey, please get in touch with the VillaGaiety team on villagaiety@gov.im