A WINCHESTER theatre threw open its doors to the public for an open weekend in an attempt to engage with the city community.

Theatre Royal Winchester hosted tours, activities and short displays from its main upcoming performance as well as the chance to speak to the theatre's chief executive Deryck Newland, who took over the facility in March.

The open event, running Saturday and Sunday (Sept 16-17) was aimed at engaging with the community, as the chief executive had his own corner in the lobby to speak to the public about upcoming projects.

Deryck said: "We are firmly in listening mode here and for us this is all about making sure the community is heard.

"The Christmas production here is a really important event and is loved by the public.

"We do need to go into a rebranding exercise and we want people to work with us and help express our brand and how we can improve it in the city."

Visitors were also offered the chance to play fancy dress, watch a short performance by some of the Peter Pan cast and watch a ukelele demonstration.

The public could also enjoy getting involved in short exercises and tours behind the scenes.

Deryck added: "The Hat Fair is one of the reasons I got involved in the theatre, it's history is fantastic.

"If we can get as many people excited about the theatre and our movements as we can with the fair, we'll definitely be on the right track.

"We've started, in a rather low-tech way to put trees out so people can post and write what they think about the theatre for us to read."