At Brighton Dome, we are gearing up to celebrate a year since our Grade I and Grade II listed Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre reopened last autumn, following a major £38m refurbishment.

It has been wonderful to see these historic venues come back to life, with an improved visitor experience for artists and audiences alike.

Accessibility & Inclusivity

Creating more inclusive spaces was a priority for the refurbishment, with improved access for visitors, staff and performers, including more accessible dressing rooms, new accessible toilets, lower bar counters for wheelchair users and upgraded hearing assistance systems, among other improvements.

In June, we launched Disabled + Disobedient, a brand-new mini Festival celebrating deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and their work, co-programmed by Brighton Dome In-House Artist Erin Enfys. With an afternoon of free workshops followed by an evening cabaret, the aim is to support and develop local deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and artists-to-be, and provide them with a platform to develop work and perform.

Erin James performing at Disabled + Disobedient. Credit Jamie Macmillan.

The first event was a roaring success: the evening cabaret featured performances from musician and drag performer Alex Fincher, poet and performer Calliope Wood, multi-disciplinary artist Erin James, disabled dance artist Lucy Clark and subversive musical-cabaret performer Theyvid (Catriona Judt). Theatre maker Elspeth McColl debuted a new spoken word piece for the event, developed during her artist residency in Anita’s Room, Brighton Dome’s new dedicated creative space for artists to research, experiment and create bold new work.

Disabled + Disobedient returns in October for its second installment!

Disabled + Disobedient by Jamie Macmillan.

In October we launch another new festival: our first Brighton Dome Comedy Festival. From 24-27 October our three historic event spaces will be filled with stand-up, improv, clowning, workshops and the world premiere of a 20th anniversary exhibition from cult cartoonists and animators Modern Toss.

Building on the success of Brighton Dome’s year-round comedy programme, which is supported by Mayo Wynne Baxter, a packed Festival line up offers something for comedy fans of all ages, with performances from Nish Kumar, Maisie Adam and Gen-Z comic Finlay Christie and family friendly double act Shelf. Reflecting the venue’s accessibility and inclusivity, all performances will be live captioned by a team of stenographers, led by comedy specialist Claire Hill, in an in-person UK comedy festival first.

Workshops with Komedia by Rosie Powell.

From the end of September, children and young people from across the community will be able to practise their stand-up in free Brighton Dome comedy workshops, run in partnership with Komedia Productions, ahead of demonstrating their skills during Brighton Dome Comedy Festival at The Young Comedians Comedy Show.

Rosie Crane, Comedy Producer at Brighton Dome, says:

“We are beyond excited to be launching this brand new comedy festival. The refurbishment has really enabled events like this: there will be shows and activities for all tastes and ages across all three of our event spaces. Every inch of our beautiful building will be filled with laughter and silliness of all kinds!” 

Community

The reopening of the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre enables us to offer an even wider and more accessible arts and community events programme for audiences and participants.

In May, the refurbished Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre returned as venues for Brighton Festival, hosting an expanded theatre programme (including Perfect Show for Rachel in which a theatre-loving, enigmatic, learning-disabled 33-year-old directs the show in real time), plus interactive and community events, including Brighton Table Tennis Club’s AllStars Extravaganza, a mass participation table tennis event in the Corn Exchange for all ages and abilities – it was so much fun!

Brighton Table Tennis Club’s All Star Extravaganza in Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, part of Brighton Festival 2024. Credit Chloe Hashemi.

This May, Brighton Festival 2025 will continue to welcome audiences across all three of our venues and beyond in Brighton, Hove and East Sussex with a wide programme across music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and community events.

Family Day Take Part 2023. Credit Chloe Hashemi.

Coming up this autumn, we have the return of Family Day Take Part on 19 October. Presented by African Night Fever and Brighton & Hove Black History in partnership with Writing Our Legacy, it’s a day dedicated to celebrating multi-cultural arts and heritage at Brighton Dome – expect dance, drumming, delicious food, singing, arts and crafts, creative writing workshops, live performances, film, stories, and talks. Everyone is welcome.

We’ve loved seeing our historic venues come back to life, as open and inclusive spaces for our staff, audiences, artists and the local community. We look forward to seeing you soon at Brighton Dome.

The redevelopment of Brighton Dome’s historic Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre was recently completed, supported by funding from Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Coast to Capital LEP and Brighton & Hove City Council.

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival is a registered charity that manages a year-round programme of events across three venues – the Concert Hall, Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre; the annual Brighton Festival in May; and music education hub Create Music, which reaches 19,000 children across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. We build year-round partnerships with local, national and international businesses: come and chat to us about sponsorship opportunities at Brighton Summit, taking place on 23 October at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.