'Just got to be imaginative'

Tiny theatre is staging a comeback

- Jessica Murray

Perched on a sign above a tiny stage draped with red velvet curtains read the Latin words "Multum in parvo".

Meaning “much in little", it has become the motto of this minuscule establishment in the Worcestershire town of Malvern.

This is the world's smallest commercial theatre, with room for 12 people - or 16 with some standing - and it has been brought back to life after falling into disrepair and at risk of demolition.

Called the Theatre of Small Convenience, it was once a Victorian toilet and measures just 10 square metres - the stage itself is a snug 1.5 metres.

"Places like this are so rare now," said Loz Samuels, the theatre's creative director and co-founder of the community interest company that runs it.