DESPITE being a small market town, Bridport has one of the most thriving live entertainment scenes in Dorset.

Nine months ago, the town’s third major venue reopened after years of darkness.

Last September, performer and dancer Niki McCretton and puppet maker Marc Parrett of Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company bought the Lyric Theatre in Barrack Street. Before they stepped in, the building was potentially being earmarked for residential development having been home to the Bernard Gale dance school for more than three decades.

The venue is a cavernous, three-storey building with a wonderful atmosphere and some gloriously retro tiling and flock wallpaper.

Niki and Marc are determined to see their venue reborn as a viable performing space and since last autumn have been renovating their new premises and planning future productions.

A former first-floor ballet studio is being used as a puppet-making room and the admin office doubles as a bar during performances.

The Lyric was officially relaunched last weekend with a sell-out performance by long-standing folk group Heron.

It could have been a daunting prospect, as the town’s Arts Centre had the Bristol old Vic Theatre School on stage performing Tom Jones, while the Electric Palace was playing host to West Country roots heroes Show of Hands on the same night. But it was a gamble that paid off.

Niki said: “I think it says a lot about Bridport that last Saturday the town’s main three venues – us, the Arts Centre and the Electric Palace – all had big events going on and all were a real success. We had people queuing down the street to get in for the Heron gig.

“The way the people of Bridport have taken to their hearts and been so determined to see the Lyric succeed has been amazing. I was in town last Saturday and this old lady pushed a pound coin into my hand and said ‘I know it’s not much, but every little helps’. It reduced me to tears.”

At the moment, Niki and Marc are using the Lyric as a base for Stuff and Nonsense, the hugely successful puppet theatre company they founded three years ago. They have toured nationally with several family shows including Three Little Pigs, the Enormous Turnip and The Elves and the Shoemakers and have been in residence at Lighthouse in Poole.

Now, having a permanent base in Barrack Street as well as more staff on the books affords the company the luxury of planning ahead, making their puppets and concentrating on bigger productions.

It also allows them to invite the public round for workshops and help students with drama exams.

Niki said: “It is great having a permanent base for Stuff and Nonsense, but it also means we can invite audiences in to see works in progress. We also have a space for making puppets upstairs, which we have always needed.

“Bridport Youth dance Company will be using the venue for rehearsals and shows and we are also hoping that young people doing drama exams and GCSEs will be use the Lyric as a rehearsal space, as very often there’s not enough room for them to do their work at school. If they want to pop down here for a couple of hours, they can.”

It is not just locals getting in on the act. Former Generation Game host Isla St Clair has been in touch about bringing her wartime nostalgia show to the Lyric and New York-based clown troupe Logic Limited Ltd are also due to spent a fortnight in Bridport at the end of June. They will be holding workshops and performing their show Tivo la Resistance in the Lyric’s 150-seat theatre.

As well as operating as a performance space, Niki also hopes that the Lyric will act as a career springboard for young performers – several aspiring actors and producers are already spending time learning the ropes with Niki and Marc. Tessa Bide is currently working at the venue as an administrator as well as rehearsing in advance of taking to the road with Muttnik, the Stuff and Nonsense story about the first dog in space.

She hopes that her time at the Lyric will benefit her more than taking the traditional drama school route to a career.

Tessa, a former member of Bridport Youth Dance, explained: “I originally wanted to go down the drama school route but since coming here I have been doing production work and managing the office and I’ve also been working as an understudy for shows which has been a brilliant experience.

“The trouble with drama school is that you have 30 people coming out of one school, all with the same qualifications and experience, and there are so many drama schools that the market is flooded with new graduates.

“Hopefully, my time here will give me something different to take away.”

If you are interested in being part of events at the Lyric call 01308 423951.

Puppet-making workshops take place on Tuesdays from 5.30pm and all ages and abilities are welcome.