THE stage is set for the first performance at a brand new theatre at Bournemouth and Poole College.

The new Jellicoe Theatre is part of an £11million teaching complex built at the North Road site in Poole over the past 18 months.

As well as the 114-seat theatre, which incorporates state-of-the-art lighting and communications technology, including one of the largest drop-down interactive screens in the region, the building houses classrooms and laboratories, dance studios and a music hall.

It is home to the college's performing arts programme, and students are now ready to stage their first public production in the new facility - a version of Arthur Conan Doyle's "Hound of the Baskervilles" which is scheduled for mid-September.

At the helm of this exciting project are a husband and wife team Jo Barrington, head of performing arts, and theatre manager Rupert Barrington.

Jo told the Echo: "It's been 18 months in the making, with many visits to dance and theatre spaces to ensure we were able to create the most versatile theatre possible.

"This result is a fabulous new theatre space which can take us in a new direction and open up vast possibilities."

The new theatre replaces the much-loved old Jellicoe Theatre in Poole's Constitution Hill, which for three decades was brought to life with the plays, musicals and dance routines of students taking the college's performing arts courses, which have helped foster the careers of actress and television personality Amanda Holden and the West End's Earl Carpenter.

"People were very sad to see the old space go because it holds such fond memories, but the true ethos of 'the Jellicoe' is in the hearts of all the performing arts students and staff," added Jo. "It will soon flow from us into the new facilities."

Performing arts courses at the college cover all aspects of theatre production including on stage work, theatre design, costume and lighting. For more information visit www.thecollege.co.uk/what-to-study/curriculum-areas/performing-arts