Beacon Arts Centre celebrates 10 years of lighting up lives in Inverclyde

Beacon Arts Centre will mark its 10^th birthday with a special performance from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra this weekend.

The Beacon opened the doors to its iconic waterfront building in 2013, providing a new home for the Greenock Arts Guild which had been serving the local community since 1946.

To celebrate its first decade, the venue will welcome the RSNO for a dazzling evening of music as it performs its Viennese Gala.

Conductor David Niemann and Tenor Jamie MacDougall will lead the orchestra through the melodies of Johann Strauss and friends.

They will play favourites including the overture to Die Fledermaus, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and the Thunder and Lightning Polka.

Tickets for the RSNO performance on Saturday night starts from £22.50, or £5 for under 18s, and can be booked at www.beaconartscentre.co.uk.

It marks the start of a year-long programme of theatre, comedy and music celebrating the Beacon’s 10^th year, and follows a record-breaking run of the venue’s annual pantomime.

A new monthly Classical Concert Series will launch on the afternoon of Sunday 29 January, with Scottish guitarist and Gramophone Award winner Sean Shibe performing.

Other event highlights in 2023 will include:

• 25 February – Comedian Milton Jones will return to the Beacon stage, where he will be joined by three top Scottish comedians.
• 28 March – 1 April – The Beacon will welcome back the National Theatre of Scotland with preview performances and the start of the UK tour of ‘Kidnapped’.
• 8 April – 80s icon Paul Young will visit the Beacon on his 2023 ‘Behind The Lens’ tour.
• 26 May – Beacon Jazz Club, which takes place on the last Thursday of every month, will celebrate its first anniversary with a ‘World of the Gods’ performance from the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The orchestra will be joined by the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers.

Beacon Arts Centre strives to provide a contemporary venue for the Inverclyde community that makes the arts accessible to all.

It hosts a diverse programme of touring shows and produces its own plays and pantomime, as well as running youth theatre groups, community outreach, and classes and workshops in music, art and drama.

The Beacon’s mission is to make a lasting impact and ‘light up lives’ by giving as many people as possible the opportunity to engage with the arts in an enjoyable and meaningful way.

As part of this, it runs an extensive programme of community outreach to help give people a voice, improve lives and build social cohesion.

In 2023, the Beacon will again act as a partner venue for NT Connections, the National Theatre’s annual youth theatre festival, bringing together young theatre-makers with some of the UK’s top writers to produce and stage new plays.

The Beacon is planning a return of its innovative ‘on the road’ programme, with a series of events provided for free in Inverclyde communities.

The community engagement team is also running weekly Dance For Parkinson’s sessions, designed specifically for those living with the disease and their friends and carers.

And the venue will continue to run Creatability, which offers a unique mix of expressive arts for neurodiverse and/or disabled children and young people with additional needs.

Pauline Kane, director of Beacon Arts Centre, said:

“Everyone at the Beacon is incredibly excited to celebrate the 10^th year of our wonderful venue.

“We are delighted to welcome the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for a special performance of its Viennese Gala which will help us mark the occasion.

“After a hugely successful run of our pantomime, Aladdin – which broke our previous record for ticket sales – we are looking forward to a packed programme in the year ahead.

“Our key mission is to make the arts accessible to all and we hope to continue bringing a fun and varied programme of theatre, comedy, music and workshops in the years to come.

“As well as this, the Beacon runs an extensive engagement programme to take the arts out into the community, and to increase accessibility for young people and those with additional needs.”

To book tickets, or to find out more about what’s coming up at the Beacon, please visit www.beaconartscentre.co.uk