Closed for restoration
Before you plan a visit: the Alley is shut. The theatre is closed for restoration works, and the official site doesn’t say when it will reopen or whether the gallery, café and bar are running in the meantime. Box office enquiries for workshops and festive events have moved to Strabane Library for now (Monday to Friday, 10am–4.30pm, 028 7138 4444). If you’re in Strabane while the doors are closed, the one thing still worth seeing is in the piazza out front.
Ambrose the Pig
Standing outside the main entrance is an 8ft bronze pig covered in Celtic swirls, nose tipped to the sky. The sculpture is Martin Heron’s Where Dreams Go, though no one in Strabane calls it that – it’s Ambrose the Pig. It marks what stood here before the arts centre: the town’s cattle and pig market. It’s the kind of detail that explains a site in one object, and you can see it any time without going in.
The Alley is also the starting point of the Strabane Heritage Trail, a self-guided walk of about 3.5 miles (5.5km) taking in 28-odd points of local interest from Railway Street outwards. The trail map is free from the visitor information centre when it’s open, the community library, or as a download.
What the building is
The Alley opened in 2007, designed by Glenn Howells Architects with AJA, and named on the Strabane site of that old market. It went on to a good run of awards: Building of the Year 2009 from the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, a Green Apple Award for environmental regeneration, an Allianz Arts and Business Award, and a 2009 access award for disability provision.
At its core is a 270-seat auditorium with retractable seating, which is the genuinely useful trick of the place: the room converts from a standard theatre to a flat-floor cabaret layout, a round-table conference space or a banquet hall. Around it sit a dedicated art gallery showing work from across the UK and Ireland, six training and breakout rooms, a sound recording studio, Café Horizon, the fully licensed Alley Bar, and Strabane’s tourist information centre.
The festivals
The Alley earns its keep as a festival venue. It hosts three drama festivals a year – Stagewrite for primary schools, the North West Schools Drama Festival for colleges, and the Strabane Drama Festival, now one of the biggest in the North West. It has also staged the North West Music Festival, the largest brass band competition in the region, and the Johnny Crampsie Festival of Irish music. If you’re timing a visit around the building reopening, these are what to aim for.
Practical information
- Status: Theatre temporarily closed for restoration. Check the website before travelling.
- Box office (during closure): Strabane Library, Monday–Friday 10am–4.30pm.
- Normal opening hours: Monday–Saturday 10am–5pm; Sunday closed. Box office Monday–Friday 10am–4.30pm.
- Parking: Car parks on both sides of the building, with entrances left and right as you approach.
- Contact: 028 7138 4444 | alley-theatre@dcsdc.com
- Address: 1A Railway Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone, BT82 8EF.
Getting there and nearby
The venue sits just off the A5 in the town centre. Coming through Strabane, take Railway Street near the Lifford roundabout; the Alley is beside the community library, before Abercorn Square. It’s about 25 minutes from both Derry/Londonderry and Omagh, with road links on to Letterkenny, Belfast and Dublin.
If the building’s shut, build a day around the wider area instead:
- Sion Mills – a preserved 19th-century linen mill village, about 3 miles south.
- Beaghmore Stone Circles – a prehistoric complex of circles and alignments in open countryside.
- Bessy Bell – a Sperrin summit walk with wide views over the valley.
- Glenelly Valley – the longest valley in the Sperrins, good for gentle cycling.
- Burnavon Arts Centre – the nearest working arts venue if the Alley is closed.