History - The Stag Sevenoaks

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Originally built as the Majestic Cinema, The Stag first opened its doors on 22^nd August 1936 with the musical farce ‘When Knights Were Bold’ which the Daily Express described as “a rare triumph of unimaginativeness”. Now nearly 90 years later, the shell of the building looks almost identical but The Stag has flourished and developed. We now operate as a charity and include a theatre, two digital cinema screens, the Stag Plaza an alternative performance and conferencing facility plus the Footlights Bar for meetings, presentations and small musical events. We also have the Limelight Room a dedicated boardroom with audio visual facilities and free WiFi.

The cinema enjoyed a golden era through the 1940s and 1950s boasting one of the largest screens in the region. The cinema seated 1360 in total, with a large stalls area and a dress circle which is now the theatre auditorium.

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The 1980s theatre seats were replaced in 2013 alongside heavy investment behind the scenes of the theatre and stage to improve facilities for hirers. The 1990s cinema seats were replaced in 2016 with an overall investment of £110,000 which improved cinema picture quality, sound quality and operational flexibility for people to enjoy attending their local family friendly cinema in Sevenoaks. The 1980s air handling system has been replaced and improved and in 2023 55kW of solar panels and 98kWh of storage batteries were installed in a joint project between The Stag, Sevenoaks Town Council and Sevenoaks District Council costing more than £140,000.

Since 2009 a total investment of nearly £1,400,000 has been put into The Stag by the charity’s fund raising and by Sevenoaks Town Council following our original principal that we invest all of our returns back into The Stag for the people of Sevenoaks.