A group has been set up to save the world’s smallest theatre.

The Theatre of Small Convenience in Great Malvern has been closed since 2017, when founder Dennis Neale retired for health reasons.

But The Friends of The Theatre of Small Convenience are hoping the venue can once again become a space for the arts in Malvern.

The group has held discussions with owners Malvern Hills District Council about buying or renting the theatre and says its immediate concern is to save the building from dereliction.

“It has suffered from both damp and fire damage, the latter destroying much of the magical interior that Dennis spent years lovingly constructing,” the group said.

READ MORE: Future of Theatre of Small Convenience in doubt

“Our future vision and overarching intention is to re-establish The Theatre of Small Convenience as a charitable trust with a cooperative structure, to continue and expand on Dennis Neale’s left-of-field legacy.”

The group said it hopes to maintain the theatre as “a space for performance, spoken word, contemporary visual arts, educational outreach, and of course puppetry, to enrich and enliven the cultural and social fabric of the town”.

Group members are meeting with the Theatres Trust next week and have applied for the building to be locally listed, which would offer it some protection by the council as a heritage asset.

“In the future we’ll be looking to get Arts Council funding and to get more people involved so the theatre is viable to be run by the community,” they said.

The Friends group is also talking to Malvern Civic Society about the possibility of a green plaque being placed on the building to reflect its history.

The theatre, a former nineteenth-century gentleman's public toilet, entered into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the smallest theatre in the world.

It was also included in Amber Massie-Bloomfield’s much-loved book Twenty Theatres To See Before You Die. 

The Friends of The Theatre of Small Convenience have set up a Facebook page, which is the best way of contacting them if you would like to join the group and feel you can offer practical help.