For entertainment in Suffolk look no further than the county’s inspirational selection of bijou cinemas, excellent theatres and other unique arts venues which play host to all manner of exhibitions and festivals throughout the year. Visit Suffolk Coast takes a closer look at The Cut in Halesworth, a former maltings which in autumn becomes the main venue for the popular Halesworth Arts Festival…

If you’re spending time in or around Halesworth don’t forget to check out the varied programme of events at The Cut - an inspirational arts centre which provides the main setting for the town’s annual Arts Festival…

A small Suffolk market town like Halesworth isn’t somewhere you would necessarily think of as being an increasingly significant centre for the arts, but since the official opening of The Cut arts centre by the late, great Sir Alan Bates CBE in 2003 Halesworth has become exactly that.

As James Holloway - the Cut’s performing arts co-ordinator and one of the driving forces behind the Centre - said at the time of the venue’s first anniversary in 2004. ‘When we set out, we wanted to prove that a rural area like this could support a wide-ranging arts complex…we felt it was important that the arts were not restricted to the larger centres of population in East Anglia such as Ipswich and Norwich.’

James and the rest of the team behind The Cut have done a grand job in turning their vision into reality. Reach for the Centre’s programme and you can’t fail to be impressed by the sheer breadth of what there is to see and do for all ages - theatre, art, music, film, classes, café and cabaret.

Here you might see a concert by local church bell ringers one day and find yourself engrossed in a thought-provoking Spanish cinematic offering the next. And it really is a great thing not to have to rely on the larger towns and cities for a night’s outing to see a cutting-edge drama or good film after a pub supper.

The conversion of Halesworth’s old Maltings into The Cut was a labour of love which began back in 1998. Today the building comprises a concourse gallery with café/bar, 220-seat auditorium/events hall with mezzanine gallery space, upstairs dance/small performance studio, upstairs gallery/workshop and two meeting rooms (for hiring charges please contact the venue.)

Such impressive facilities didn’t come cheap of course and - as The Cut receives no central funding - it relies wholly on the support of the local community and its 500 club benefactors who help to pay the mortgage. As far as the day-to-day running of the venue goes, that is down to a small staff and huge volunteer workforce, whose passion for the arts and dedication to the centre is unwavering.

The Cut is also the main venue for the annual Halesworth Arts Festival held each autumn and now flourishing under the directorship of Matthew Wetmore.

The event, which is five years old this year, attracts thousands of people not just from Halesworth but all over the region and beyond owing to its all-embracing programme, which might include anything from children’s art workshops to Greek folk music, jazz, stand-up comedy, string trios - and the list goes on and on.

2006 is something of a landmark year for the Festival with Alan Bates’ son Ben flying over from LA to formally ‘christen’ the Cut’s auditorium as The Alan Bates Theatre, marking the start of another chapter in the life of this ever-popular venue, of which Halesworth is rightfully very proud. And long may its success continue.

If you’d like to contact The Cut write to
New Cut Arts
The Cut
New Cut
Halesworth
Suffolk
IP19 8BY
Telephone: 01986 873285
Box Office: 0845 673 2123
www.newcut.org