In the sleepy village of Titchfield, where the drama usually revolves around tea choices and garden gnome placements, a theatrical scandal has unfolded. A 450-seat theatre, built with the audacity of a Shakespearean plot twist, has graced St Margaret’s Lane without official approval, leaving locals both amused and bewildered.
Nestled surreptitiously behind the Titchfield Festival Theatre (TFT), the unauthorised venue came to the limelight when the spotlight shifted from the stage to the parking lot. Concerns arose like melodious notes about the theatre’s measly 35 parking spaces – a number that might work for a solo act but falls dramatically short for an ensemble cast.
Enter Fareham Borough Council, the unexpected protagonist in this unfolding play, armed with a Planning Enforcement Notice that declared: “The theatre must cease its performances by the end of February unless it appeals.” Apparently, a lack of planning permission is a more significant faux pas than forgetting your lines in this village.
Titchfield Festival Theatre Limited, refusing to be upstaged, holds the trump card – the right to appeal to the Secretary of State. A bureaucratic cliffhanger, if you will. In a statement, TFT’s artistic director, Kevin Fraser, defended their dramatic endeavour, proudly declaring the site as the “largest community theatre hub in Europe.” One can almost hear the collective gasps of astonished locals.
Councillor Nick Walker, the chairman of the planning committee, expressed his disbelief with a flair that could rival any Shakespearean soliloquy: “It beggars belief that anyone would build a new 450-seat theatre without first securing planning permission.” Perhaps the theatre group assumed that the village’s motto, “By wisdom and courage”, applied more to dramatic creativity than to planning regulations.
As the village awaits the unfolding acts of bureaucratic comedy or tragedy, depending on your perspective, the unauthorised theatre continues its performances. The building, originally given permission only for use as storage, is now the stage for a pantomime – the irony doesn’t escape the audience, or lack thereof.
In response, TFT’s lawyers have thrown metaphorical tomatoes at Fareham Borough Council, contesting the action and urging the authority to withdraw its curtain call. The legal drama promises more twists than a Shakespearean sonnet, with the theatre’s fate hanging in the balance.
Titchfield, once known for its quaint charm, has now become the stage for a larger-than-life production. The unauthorized theatre stands as a testament to the village’s unexpected flair for the dramatic, proving that sometimes, in the most unlikely places, a little creativity can steal the show. It’s a theatrical masterpiece that the village never knew it needed – a drama of dimensions, a comedy of councils, and a tragedy for anyone seeking a legal parking spot. All hail the unintentional impresarios of Titchfield!