The Bierkeller Theatre opened its doors in January 2012, and has since hosted over 50 productions ranging from local companies to international tours. The Bristol Bierkeller started its theatrical journey five years ago, after the it acquired a theatre licence and started to host occasional one off productions (such as for the Bristol Shakespeare Festival). In 2011 after an ownership changeover, the Bierkeller Theatre was born under the guidance of Austin Mockridge (CEO) and Alex MacMillan (Artistic Director).

Since inception, we’ve grown rapidly – hosting Gothic horror seasons, site-specific interactive worlds, promenade performances, and much much more. We’re particularly keen on productions that innovatively use the whole space, but also are happy to work with more traditional proscenium arch set ups We’ve been lucky enough to work with some great shows, brought to us by groups and people such as Darkstuff Productions, John Redgrave, ITV West Workshop, City of Bristol College, Bristol University, UWE, Thrice Three Muses, and many more.

In late 2012 we arranged a partnership with Bath Spa University, whereby the theatre was tied to a team of students' degree syllabus. The team for 2012 – led by Samuel Shelton – have been tasked with publicity and bringing innovation to the theatre. So far it’s been a brilliant relationship, providing students hands on experience in theatre mechanics, and providing us with their expertise and time. In early 2013 we developed our first intern scheme, bringing training and work experience to students and recent graduates by working with our visiting productions – students from UWE and Filton College have already signed up to the scheme.

We eagerly look to the future, with exciting shows on the horizon and to the completion of our in house upgrade work (more lights, new seating, and more!).