Carmarthen’s Lyric Theatre celebrates with anniversary film screenings

Carmarthen’s Lyric Theatre will host special film screenings this summer to mark 30 years since its unconventional premiere of Jurassic Park took the town by storm.

The Lyric’s art deco auditorium will host a screening of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park on Sunday 16th July and Save The Cinema will be screened from 17th – 19th July, with a captioned screening on 17th July at 7pm and a matinee at 2:30pm on Tuesday 18th July.

Save The Cinema tells the story of how, in 1993, Carmarthen’s town council proposed that The Lyric Theatre would be demolished so that a shopping centre could be built in its place. Carmarthen Youth Opera’s Liz Evans, along with Carmarthen’s mayor at the time, Richard Goodridge, led a campaign that convinced Steven Spielberg to stage a premiere of his blockbuster, Jurassic Park at The Lyric, as part of their fight to save the historic theatre. The story has been immortalised in the hit film, starring Samantha Morton, Tom Felton, and Jonathan Pryce, which was released and screened at The Lyric in January 2022.

2023 marks 30 years since Liz Evans’ campaign brought Hollywood to Carmarthen for the Jurassic Park premiere. Theatrau Sir Gâr are celebrating this special milestone by screening Save The Cinema and Jurassic Park in The Lyric’s beautiful art deco auditorium this July.

On the day of The Lyric’s Jurassic Park screening, there will also be a visit from some ‘roar-some’ reptiles from Dinomania, as seen on Britain’s Got Talent.

Local businesses in and around King Street are also celebrating the anniversary in conjunction with Theatrau Sir Gâr. There will be a chance to win four tickets to the Jurassic Park screening and a Sloppy Joe’s Streetfood voucher, plus a meet and greet with a baby dinosaur from Dinomania. There’ll also be a dinosaur trail hosted by the shops and businesses in King Street, with prizes for young dinosaur-hunters who complete the trail.

Jurassic Park (PG) will be screened at The Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen on Sunday 16th July at 2:00pm – the 30th anniversary of its release date.

Save The Cinema (12) will be shown on 17th July at 7pm (captioned), 18th July at 2:30pm and 7pm, and 19th of July at 7:00pm.  

Tickets for Jurassic Park are priced at £5 and tickets for Save The Cinema are priced at £5.50. Bookings can be made with the box office on 0345 2263510 and online at www.theatrausirgar.co.uk