Everything about The West Yorkshire Playhouse totally explained
The
West Yorkshire Playhouse in
Leeds,
England is a
theatre which opened in March
1990 as part of the regeneration of the
Quarry Hill area of the city. According to the West Yorkshire Playhouse website it has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as one of Britain's most exciting producing theatres, winning awards for everything from its productions to its customer service, and it's "the largest regional repertory theatre in the UK outside London and Stratford". The theatre's first artistic director was
Jude Kelly (1990-2002). Her successor is
Ian Brown.
The West Yorkshire Playhouse complex comprises: The Quarry Theatre (750 seats), The Courtyard Theatre (350 seats), a
CAMRA award-winning bar, a restaurant, the Newlyn Gallery, two function rooms (the Congreve Room and the Priestley Room), three rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, extensive technical workshops, dressing rooms, a costume hire department, a
Cyber Café and offices for production, administrative and artistic teams.
Productions cover a wide range from classic drama to modern European theatre and children's shows. There is an emphasis on new writing, especially from the north of England. There are many coproductions with other regional theatres, some of which go on to tour or transfer to London theatres. Visiting companies include
Northern Broadsides,
Kneehigh Theatre and
Peepolykus.
The Theatre was home to the Original Version of the Musical "Spend Spend Spend", the Story of the life of Viv Nicholson the 1961 Famous Pools Winner and Author of the book of the same Name. The Original, Starring Rosemary Ashe appeared at the Playhouse before it went onto West End Success Starring Barbara Dickson.
A typical season includes four or five major productions which run for three or four weeks, and a number of one-week or shorter runs which may be by visiting companies. A typical recent season (Autumn-Winter 2007) included:
Casanova by
Carol Ann Duffy and
Told By An Idiot, with
Lyric Hammersmith; a stage adaptation of
Don Quixote;
Brief Encounter with
Kneehigh Theatre and
Birmingham Repertory Theatre;
Rough Crossings adapted by
Caryl Phillips from
Simon Schama's book;
Salonika, first performed at the
Royal Court Theatre in 1982. There were 6 plays with shorter runs, a visiting production by
Northern Ballet Theatre, and two Christmas shows, one for small children and a revived co-production with Birmingham Repertory Company of
Adrian Mitchell's dramatisation of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The theatre receives funding from
Arts Council England (£1,100,000) and
Leeds City Council (£820,000), West Yorkshire Grants and Leeds Education Authority. It also encourages corporate sponsorship. The theatre is a member of the
European Theatre Convention.
Further Information
Get more info on 'West Yorkshire Playhouse'.
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