Cube Microplex

The Cube Microplex is cinema and event venue in Bristol, England. It operates as a non-profit cooperative and is staffed by volunteers.[1] Since opening in 1998 it has hosted artistic and cultural events including films and music performances as well as providing a focal point for the local artistic community.[2] The building includes a 108-seat auditorium as well as a bar serving local and ethical products.

Cube Microplex
Front entrance to the Cube
Cube Microplex shown within Bristol
General information
Town or cityBristol
CountryEngland
Coordinates51.461122°N 2.593355°W / 51.461122; -2.593355

History
Cube Microplex neon signage

The wooden theatre at the heart of the Cube was adapted from a workshop by volunteers for an amateur dramatics group in 1964.[2] The building itself has a long history as a community arts venue, built in 1916 as workshops for the Bristol Deaf Centre; and converted by a team of amateur theatre enthusiasts in 1964 into a theatre with 108-seat auditorium and fly tower. A projection room and cinema screen were added in the 1970s.

The Cube opened its doors in its present form in October 1998.[1] In July 2001 a serious fire originating in the New Mayflower kitchen destroyed most of the internal storeys and timber of 4 and 5 King Square, and although the Cube itself only sustained minor damage, its entrance was effectively destroyed, meaning it was cut off from use by the general public. After extensive rebuilding work, the Cube reopened in August 2002.[3]

In December 2013, a fund-raising project to buy the freehold of the Cube's building was successful in reaching its £185,000 target.[4] On 1 April 2014 the Cube official became owned by Microplex Holdings Ltd, a non-profit Industrial and Provident Society and Community Land Trust (CLT) set up by Cube volunteers whose charter is to secure and maintain the freehold of the Cube Cinema as a community arts space in perpetuity.[4]

Programme
Science Cabaret at the Cube

The Cube's public programme averages over 350 events per year, with a monthly average attendance of 1500. Along with its cinema, music, performance and education programmes, the Cube hosts a wide range of local and international artists and community-initiated events.[2][1][5] The film screenings include general and limited release mainstream films, art-house, cult films and work by local film makers. It offers special film screenings for mothers and babies.[1] Regular nights have included stand-up comedy, screenings of classic or cult comedy films,[6] and a movieoke evening, in which audience members act out their chosen film scenes on stage as they are played on the big screen.[5] Weekends often feature live music and performances. The building is also periodically hired to third parties to put on their own events. The Cube has played hosts to seasons and festivals, including the Venn Festival, Ladyfest Bristol, Bristol Radical History Group, Ausform Platform of Performance and Independent Heroine festivals.

Its anti-corporate ethos led to projects such as Kate Rich and Kayle Brandon's Cube-Cola, based on an open source cola recipe,[7] and Feral Trade which supplies various products to its bar using only personal social networks, including fair trade coffee from a farming cooperative in El Salvador.[8] It has its own in-house improvising orchestra, the Orchestra Cube.

The Cube has a history of setting up temporary cinemas in exotic locations, including a tin mine in Cornwall.[9] In March 2010, a group travelled to the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake to stage an open-air cinema showing mainstream and specially-created films to children,[9] and in 2015 to Nepal following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.[10]

The Cube Cinema Ltd

The Cube Cinema was incorporated in 1998 as a company limited by guarantee, constituted as a democratically run worker's co-operative. Its volunteer workforce has ranged in age from 8 to 65.

References
  1. Bradshaw, Peter; Mark Butler (30 January 2008). "The smallest shows on earth". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  2. Tims, Anna (22 January 2010). "10 of the best ... independent cinemas". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  3. Booth, Martin (28 October 2008). "Boxing Clever". Bristol Evening Post. Bristol United Press.
  4. "Cube Cinema Freehold". Cubecinema.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  5. Berry, Mark (March 2007). "UK's Weirdest City is... Bristol". Bizarre magazine. p. 64.
  6. "Bristol's Top 6 Comedy Spots — Guy Forks". Simplelampoon.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  7. Flint, James (28 July 2006). "The real thing. Or is it?". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  8. Morris, Steven (4 March 2005). "From slave trade to fair trade, Bristol's new image". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  9. Morris, Steven (21 March 2010). "Bristol cinema sets up film shows for Haiti's earthquake children". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  10. "KIDS KINO PROJECT | A mobile, social cinema for children displaced from their homes". Kidskino.cubecinema.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.

Further reading
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