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Old Market Hall Cinema, Shrewsbury. Getting ready for to be part of a multi venue arts event across Shropshire
Shropshire Star
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27/05/2025
We call in at the Old Market Hall Cinema in Shrewsbury. It's one of the venues that will be taking part in an arts event across Shropshire coming up.
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00:00
Old Market Hall Cinema and Roberto, hello sir, you okay?
00:04
Yes, good morning Steve, how are you? I'm good thank you matey. I've um, all the times I've been
00:09
into the square in Shrewsbury and I'm sad to say I've never made the the pilgrimage upstairs to
00:14
the cinema, I've just been up there. It's beautiful isn't it? It's fantastic, one of Shrewsbury's
00:19
greatest secrets. It really is, you know, even the screen room, all those exposed beams, I wasn't
00:26
expecting that you know. Yeah well it's a fine old building, considered to be one of the
00:34
most historic and important buildings in this area. It was completed in 1596 so it's quite an old
00:43
building in itself and when you walk around the space you can see the traditional building methods
00:51
that they use. Um, and... I've got it. No, that's cool, no because I can just, we'll just keep going
00:59
so I can snip it and that. Oh right, okay. So I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what took me back,
01:03
I wasn't expecting such lovely big windows and all that natural light flowing in the kind of the cafe
01:09
area. Yeah that's, that's great pros and cons really. Um, you know, it's sort of, it's a bit like a
01:16
greenhouse sometimes. Oh yeah, of course, it can, yeah. So the temperature variation, depending on
01:21
what time of year, can go from a little bit chilly to quite warm. Yeah, yeah. Um, but, but that's okay,
01:28
it's really nice to be able to see out into the square. A lot of people who come to visit, um, always
01:34
run for the window seats. Yeah. Um, they're a favourite. Um, if you look up at the ceiling, you'll see
01:42
all the traditional building methods that they, they've used. Uh, and we, uh, have been open for
01:52
over 20 years. Yeah. Um, the rebuild and the refurb of making it into a cinema, you can actually see
02:01
where they've had to, um, repair and they've continued using the same building methods. Yeah. Um, and
02:12
one thing I'm, that, that, that really strikes me is the main central beam runs right across the cafe
02:21
bar. Yeah. Uh, uh, that piece of wood is probably over a thousand years old. It's crazy, isn't it?
02:27
It's crazy. And a lovely range of drinks and snacks up there. You've got a few there with you. We've got a,
02:32
we've got some fresh muffins and that did I see and little cakes like that. We have a full license bar.
02:39
Yeah. Um, and we also offer a variety of cakes and we have some savory food as well. Yeah. Um,
02:50
what we try to do is incorporate as much, uh, locally sourced and produced stuff. So for example,
02:58
um, our cake suppliers all come from this area. Yeah. Um, and again, uh, things like the muffins,
03:08
the egg custards, uh, the scones, uh, they're all massive favorites here. Yeah. Um, tend to sell
03:16
out very quickly. Yeah. Well, I mean, looking at that space you've got there, I mean, it does say
03:21
cafe bar. It's a lovely spot, even if you're not watching the films to pop for a drink and a little
03:25
snack, isn't it? Yeah. Um, yeah, we are a cafe bar, not just a cinema, but a cafe bar. And the two
03:31
really complement each other very well. Um, and you know, some people come here just for a coffee.
03:39
You don't necessarily have to go in to see a film. That's always an option. Um, but yeah,
03:44
we, we have quite a lot of regulars on a daily basis that come just for coffee,
03:49
yeah. It's gone sandwich slice of cake. And, um, talking of films, if you do like films with nail
03:56
and eyes coming up as a bit of a special five film, um, it's like a mini film festival,
04:01
I guess you're having, isn't it? Tell us something called the rural remix. Yeah. And it's part of a
04:08
wider, um, selection of streams that are going on around the county. Uh, we are showing five films
04:17
in July, uh, one of which is with nail and eye, um, which was proven to be quite popular. We've
04:24
only got about three or four tickets left. So if you want a ticket, get out, get in the ship.
04:28
And there's a few other films still, still to be signed on the dotted line sort of thing,
04:33
isn't there? So I, the, the, the other ones that are coming up. Yeah. Well, behind the scenes,
04:37
putting together a film program is not as easy as you think it is. Um, there has to be
04:45
negotiations with all the distribution and production companies. And they each will have
04:52
their own set of stipulations about what you can see and what you can't see when you can see it,
04:59
how many times you have to show it. Yeah. So putting together a program, um, is quite complex
05:07
actually. Yeah. Because we are a full time, uh, uh, cinema theater, um, uh, you know, that
05:18
job in itself is, is very, uh, complex and ongoing as we run a comprehensive, uh, cinema program
05:27
throughout the year. Yeah. Quite often we have, uh, several films showing in a week. Uh, uh,
05:35
today, for example, there are two different screenings going on. Um, we have one screen here.
05:45
Uh, capacity is 81 seats. Um, and there is room for wheelchair seats. Yeah. Um, and some lovely,
05:55
comfy new seats. You've just had installed as well, isn't there? Yes. Comfy new seats. Yeah. Um,
06:01
and, uh, yeah, it's a very nice, cozy, intimate, uh, space. And we, we should give a shout out that
06:10
the, the price for the, the tickets for the film fest, they're kind of a bit of a special discounted
06:15
rate as well, aren't they? Uh, yeah. Tickets are priced at six pounds. Bargain. Bargain. It's a bargain.
06:21
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, normal prices range from about nine pounds to about 12 pounds. Yeah. But even so,
06:27
compared to lots of other places, you know, they're very comprehensive price. Um, and,
06:34
and then we have things we call special screenings, such as live broadcasts of opera and national theater,
06:44
uh, uh, productions and sometimes gallery, um, uh, documentaries. Yeah. Um, overall, uh, you know,
06:54
we run, uh, uh, what I think is a really comprehensive, um, uh, program, which hopefully, uh, there's something
07:05
for everybody to come and see. Cool. So just give us a shout out for the name of that festival that's
07:11
coming up then in July. The Rural Remix. Yeah. Yeah. It's called Rural Remix. Yeah. Cool. So the
07:19
festival is Rural Remix. Cool. So you've heard it here first, folks. So keep your eyes peeled and
07:25
check out the old market hall. If not for a film next week, then pop in for a cup of tea and a nice
07:30
muffin. Cheers, Roberto. Cheers, brother. Okay. Cheers. Thank you.
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