The Paget Room 122 Years On!
122 YEARS ON!
THE PAGET ROOM REMAINS A ‘HAPPENING’ VENUE’
Many of us have visited The Paget Rooms in Penarth. This much-loved Vale venue was a dance hall in the 1920s, the Regal Cinema in the 1930s and for the last 60 years or so host to a wide range of events, from drama, concerts, talks and art exhibitions to weddings and community meetings. The Hall, now a Grade II listed building, is still named after Alberta Paget, wife of the Earl of Plymouth, who leased the land to the original developers.
The Paget Rooms has long nurtured local talent and provided a platform for artists, musicians, and performers to showcase their work. It has also had its fair share of star performers. By all accounts the 2022 performance from the legendary Welsh rocker Andy Fairweather Lowe was sensational. Andy has a lot of material to work with being well known as lead singer with Amen Corner with hits such as ‘Bend Me Shape Me’ and ‘Hello Suzy.’ Andy went on to work with many an artist considered ‘rock royalty’ including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Elton John and Sheryl Crowe.
Perhaps the most famous though, was none other than Tom Jones whose appearance has an interesting background. In July 1965, Tom and his band the Squires responded to a request from the Penarth Round Table and appeared for free in aid of a charity to support two people knocked down and injured by a van in Cogan. In 1972, South Wales rockers ‘Man’ released their fifth album ‘Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth’ complete with a mistake in the title!
Bringing things up to date, between 2019 and 2023, the Paget Rooms were used as the location of the college hall in the Netflix hit show ‘Sex Education’ starring Gilliam Anderson and Ncuti Gatwa, the 15th and current Dr Who.
So, what’s happening now? Well, the two examples below give a good idea of the variety of events held at the modern Paget Rooms.
On March 27th (7pm – 10pm) the Paget Rooms are featuring the National Theatre Live production of Dr. Strangelove. Seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece. Tickets cost £10.
April 11th sees a production called ‘3D Drama.’ Theatre Bara Caws present three light comedy/dramas on varying themes. Tickets, including booking fee are £16.50. These are Welsh language productions, although English précis will be available. Some strong language.