Forum Theatre

I took my first visit to Billingham Forum to go ice skating. Having never been to Billingham before (I live in Sheffield), I was pleasently surprised by what I found inside.
As you walk in you’re greeted with the bright and colourful café area with a gym to your left. We decided to have a tea and something to eat before going ice skating, so wandered off to the café area.
The prices in the café were very expensive for the quality we got. I wasn’t overly fussed about the cup of tea I drunk, however the banana I ate was lovely and banana like, I couldn’t really expect much more from that.
The payment to get into Ice skating was reasonable, and that included skate hire aswell, and the staff giving us our reciepts for our skates were quite chirpy and friendly A different story when entering the ice rink and collecting the skates however. The gentleman behind the desk didn’t even bother to crack a smile, just grunted at us for our feet size and handed us our skates.
The ice rink its self looks well maintained, and there were strict rules on not spraying people which looked to be adhered to, I noticed as well there were a few ice quards looking out for signs of trouble, or if someone had hurt themselves, I didn’t see them doing much when a few people fell over, but once me and my boyfriend stopped to get a drink we saw some little girl in tears being carried off the ice. She was looked after very well by the ice guards and got her an ice pack for her knee, then subsequently checked up on her after 10 minutes to see if her knee was ok. I tohught this was sweet.
After finishing Ice skating, a quick toilet break was required, and having sweated to the bone for the past hour and a half on the rink, I was horrified to find the toilets in the reception area were sauna-​like. I felt like I was going to pass out they were that hot. Luckily my toilet break was short and I could exit the toilets before passing out in a heap on the floor.
All in all I would definitely come back to the Forum, maybe to try out the swimming pool. Even though there were a few minor issues, it didn’t spoil me having fun and enjoying my time there.

Billingham forum is an absolutely fantastic facility which Billingham is extremely lucky to be the home of. The theatre side of the forum is great with a huge host of different plays, panto’s musicals and even mini concerts on offer throughout the year. There are shows on every month which are always fabulous. The theatre is comfortable and stylish with plenty of leg room and large arm rests on every seat. I attend the pantomime every year with my neice and nephew and have done for many years now. It is a brilliant and very entertaining evening which grown ups and kids love! The only down side is the fact that the tickets are sometimes a little expensive.

This is a fantastic facility and we are so lucky to have the Forum Theatre in our region. Theatres are few and far between up here. There’s the Darlington Civic, w hich is very nice, but also very expensive, and there’s the Middlesbrough Little Theatre, which is small and a bit tatty. Billingham Forum is in the middle — quite nicely decorated, and not too badly priced.
They have lots of different types of shows on and it’s really great for a night out. There’s a bar area for the interval. The toilets are ok, too — which is always an important indicator of the quality of an organisation, I think!