This small and friendly South Devon theatre and arts venue has a 380-seat auditorium, café-bar and Stage left arts and event space.
Thursday 18th September 2025
An Audience at the Palace presents: Agatha Christie Literary Daughter of South Devon
Agatha Christie is renowned as the Queen of Murder Mysteries, John’s illustrated talk is of the woman herself, very much a woman of mystery! Born and raised in Torquay, South Devon, in a very different era to today, her life and personality were greatly influenced by her early years at Ashfield, Barton Road and her finale at Greenway, overlooking the Dart. Although John never met Agatha personally, he was fortunate to call her daughter Rosalind, a friend, whilst she and her husband Antony lived at Greenway, both being happy to share our common love of the Dart, Greenway and Galmpton as her mother had done before.
Ticket price includes a cup of tea/coffee. Buy 6 talks over the year and get 1 free!
Funded as part of Torbay’s Local Heritage Grant Scheme, made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Venue: Palace Theatre, Paignton
Accessibility
The Place Theatre Paignton has excellent accessibility for a building that was constructed in the year that Agatha Christie was born. There is plenty of disabled parking nearby, while the theatre has a ramp for access. There is a public toilet for disabled visitors, which is a Changing Places toilet. Some staff have had disability awareness training, while they have emergency evacuation procedures for disabled visitors.
There is a hearing loop in the main auditorium, while the fire alarm has flashing lights.
The walls and the doors have high colour contrast.
The venue has created a visual guide on the accessibility section of their website. View it here.
Getting there
The easiest way of getting to the venue by public transport is to take the train from Torquay Train Station to Paignton Train Station. It’s just one stop and takes around five minutes. It’s then a 15-minute walk up through the main pedestrianised shopping precinct (Victora Street) and up through Palace Avenue Gardens to the theatre. The last train back is usually around 22:40.
The number 12 bus runs from Torquay harbour and along the seafront to Paignton Bus Station. It’s then a 15-minute walk to the theatre. The last bus back is around 2am in the morning! Find out more from the Stagecoach website.