Artrix

Artrix stands on School Drive just outside Bromsgrove town centre. The building was put up between 2004 and 2005 on land once used by Heart of Worcestershire College and the former Bromsgrove ‘Blue Light’ centre. It hosts theatre and dance performances, cinema screenings and live music from touring bands and solo artists. Classical concerts and comedy shows share the programme alongside touring theatre and ballet. Bromsgrove Arts Alive runs a Pantomime, a classical music club and spoken-word talks by playwrights, novelists, poets and historians. The main auditorium seats about 301 and both venues have removable seating to create open spaces. Four multipurpose rooms serve as dressing rooms during productions and meeting spaces at other times. A rehearsal room on the second floor became a studio theatre in 2013 with space for 90 seated guests. Three floors of the building hold an art gallery. The main house and studio are soundproofed and structurally separate to stop sound travelling between them. A licensed café-bar offers refreshments inside the building. After funding cuts in 2018 and the loss of long-term contracts during the COVID-19 lockdown, the centre closed and entered voluntary liquidation. Bromsgrove District Council bought the assets and later used the site as the town’s mass vaccination centre. Several local groups are now exploring ways to reopen the venue.