Address | 55 Norfolk Street Sheffield, S1 1DA England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 53°22′52″N01°28′00″W / 53.38111°N 1.46667°W |
Owner | Sheffield Theatres |
Type | Thrust Stage |
Capacity | 980 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1971 |
Architect | RHWL |
Website | |
sheffieldtheatres | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | The Crucible Theatre [1] |
Designated | 1 November 2007 [1] |
Reference no. | 1392311 [1] |
The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. It hosts regular theatrical performances and the annual World Snooker Championship, which has been held at the venue since 1977. The theatre's name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. In May 2022 plans were unveiled to build a new 3,000-seat venue nearby with a bridge connecting the two buildings. [2]
The Crucible Theatre was built by M J Gleeson and opened in 1971. [3] It replaced the Sheffield Repertory Theatre which was based in Townhead Street at the Sheffield Playhouse. In 1967 Colin George, the founding artistic director of the Crucible, recommended a thrust stage for Sheffield, inspired by theatres created by Sir Tyrone Guthrie. Tanya Moiseiwitsch, who had been involved in designing Guthrie's theatres, was recruited to design Gleeson's theatre as well. [4] The architects Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects were employed and the building itself began to take shape in 1969. It was completed in two years, with the opening performance in November 1971. The opening night performances were Fanfare, an evening's entertainment showing children acting in an improvised scene, Anton Chekhov's Swansong with Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, and a music hall finale with a Sheffield brass band.
This demonstrated the versatility of the stage, which has since been adapted for dance and musical performances, as well as classical and modern theatre. The Crucible Theatre also hosts touring productions and the World Snooker Championship.
The audience sits on three sides but no member is more than 22 yards (20 metres) from the performer. Consequently, although it seats 980 people the spectator has an intimate relationship with the activity on stage. Colin George and the administrator David Brayshaw persuaded the Gulbenkian Foundation to finance the building of a professional studio theatre – the 400 seat Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, which opened with the main house.
In 2001, the Crucible was awarded the Barclays 'Theatre of the Year Award'. [5] It is a Grade II listed building. [1]
The building went through a £15 million refurbishment between 2007 and late 2009 – opening during that period only for the 2008 and 2009 World Snooker Championships. [6]
The Crucible reopened as a theatre on 11 February 2010 with a production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People , with the official reopening by Prince Edward on 18 February 2010. [7]
Under the distinguished leadership of a succession of artistic directors, The Crucible is a producing theatre, meaning shows are designed and rehearsed in-house. Productions are normally overseen by the Sheffield Theatres Group which also comprises the smaller Playhouse, housed in the same complex, and the large capacity neighbouring receiving venue the Lyceum.
The World Snooker Championship tournament has been played annually at the Crucible since 1977, and the venue has been lauded for creating a special feeling of excitement around the event. Sports journalist Peter Mason, in The Guardian , has argued that while the physical aspects of the Crucible are "greatly underwhelming", there is an undeniably special atmosphere inside the auditorium which means that "against all the modernist odds this relentlessly forward-looking theatre appears to have become infused with memories of the past every bit as easily as if it were a creaking old music hall dating back to the 19th century". [8]
The World Women's Snooker Championship was also held at the Crucible between 1998 and 2003 but was eventually withdrawn due to financial difficulties. The venue has also hosted championships of other indoor sports, such as table tennis and squash.
In May 2022 plans were unveiled for a new World Snooker Championship venue that would be attached to the existing Crucible Theatre building via a bridge. The new venue is to host up to 3,000 spectators. [9] Snooker promoter Barry Hearn had confirmed talks were underway with Sheffield City Council in April 2022. Hearn added that the tournament could move elsewhere if the new project is not supported but, "the Crucible name is synonymous with snooker globally ... so the name has to remain." [10] The new building has been designed by the architect James Burland, the architect behind the City of Manchester Stadium, along with Arup. The building will also house a snooker museum. [11]
In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. This is in contrast to a theatre in the round, which is exposed on all sides to the audience, is without a backstage, and relies entirely on entrances in the auditorium or from under the stage. Entrances onto a thrust are most readily made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience using vomitory entrances. As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. Because the audience can view the performance from a variety of perspectives, it is usual for the blocking, props and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is blocked from view. A high-backed chair, for instance, when placed stage right, could create a blind spot in the stage left action.
The 1985 World Snooker Championship final, also known as the black-ball final, was played on the weekend of 27–28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The final of the 1985 World Snooker Championship was between defending world champion Steve Davis and 1979 runner-up Dennis Taylor. It was Davis's fourth appearance in a final and Taylor's second. The best-of-35-frame match was split into four sessions. Davis won every frame in the first session to lead 7–0 but only led 9–7 and 13–11 after the second and third sessions. Until the match was over, Taylor was never ahead in frames but had tied the contest three times at 11–11, 15–15 and 17–17. The deciding frame culminated in a number of shots on the final black ball. After both players had failed to pot it several times, Taylor potted the black to win his only world championship. Media outlets reported this as a major shock: Davis had been widely predicted to win the match, having lifted three of the previous four world championship titles.
The Lyceum is a 1,068-seat theatre in the City of Sheffield, England.
Tatiana Benita Moiseiwitsch was an English theatre designer.
The English Institute of Sport is a multi-sport facility in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects was opened in December 2003 at a cost of £24 million. Its main feature is a 200m indoor track, but it also hosts several other sporting arenas as well as a large gym and extensive sports medicine facilities. It is in the Lower Don Valley between the Sheffield Arena and Don Valley Bowl. It is managed by SIV.
The 1985 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking tournament in snooker that took place from 12 to 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the event was the ninth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977. A five-round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 29 March to 5 April for 87 players, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The total prize fund for the event was £250,000, the highest prize pool for any snooker tournament to that date. The winner received £60,000, which was the highest amount ever received by the winner of a snooker event at that time.
The 1983 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 1983 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. This was the third and final world ranking event of the 1982–83 snooker season following the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. Sixteen seeded players qualified directly for the event, with an additional sixteen players progressing through a two-round qualification round held at the Romiley Forum in Stockport, and Redwood Lodge in Bristol. The winner of the event received £30,000, and the tournament was sponsored by cigarette company Embassy.
The 1981 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament which took place from 7 April to 20 April 1981 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the 1981 edition of the World Snooker Championship, and was the fifth consecutive world championship to take place at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. It was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The total prize fund for the tournament was £75,000, of which £20,000 went to the winner.
The 1980 World Snooker Championship, officially known as the 1980 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 April to 5 May 1980 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the 1980 edition of the World Snooker Championship and was the fourth consecutive world championship to take place at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. It was authorised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The total prize fund for the tournament was £60,000, of which £15,000 went to the winner.
The 1978 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 29 April 1978 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the second consecutive year the tournament had been held at the venue. A qualifying competition was held at Romiley Forum, Stockport, from 27 March to 7 April. The tournament was promoted by Mike Watterson on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. It had a total prize fund of £24,000, of which £7,500 went to the champion.
Sheffield City Centre is a district of the City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly 0.75 miles (1.2 km) of Sheffield Cathedral and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road, a circular route started in the late 1960s and completed in 2007. As well as the cathedral, buildings in the city centre include the Grade I listed Town Hall, the City Hall and the Winter Gardens. Several areas of the city centre have been designated as quarters. It is home to the city's major business, transport, leisure and cultural attractions.
Tudor Square is a city square in the city of Sheffield, England. The square is home to the largest concentration of theatres in the UK outside London and has thus become known as Sheffield's ‘Theatre Land’. The Square lies at the heart of the city centre, only metres away from the town hall, major attractions such as the Winter Gardens and is only 5 minutes away from Sheffield railway station.
The Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse is a studio theatre that forms part of the Sheffield Theatres complex in Sheffield, England. The theatre, which was opened in 1971, is situated in the same building as the Crucible Theatre and holds a maximum capacity of 400 people. The present artistic director is Rob Hastie.
Colin George was a Welsh actor and director, who was the founding Artistic Director of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield (1971).
The 2008 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 2008 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 32nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre, and the seventh and final ranking event of the 2007–08 snooker season. The tournament was organised by World Snooker, and sponsored by betting company 888.com. The tournament featured a total prize fund of £1,050,000 with £250,000 being awarded to the winner.
The 2011 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 35th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and was the last ranking event of the 2010–11 snooker season. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and had a total prize fund of £1,111,000, with £250,000 going to the winner of the event. The tournament was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred.
George Michael Edwin Watterson was an English professional snooker player, businessman, sports promoter and television commentator.
The 2013 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2013 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 37th consecutive year the Crucible had hosted the World Snooker Championship; the 2013 event was the last ranking tournament of the 2012–13 snooker season. Sports betting company Betfair sponsored the event for the first time.
The 2019 World Seniors Championship was a snooker tournament, that took place from 15 to 18 August 2019 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the first event of the 2019–20 World Seniors Tour. It was the tenth World Seniors Championship, first held in 1991. The event had a total prize fund of £63,500 up from £18,000 the previous year, with £15,000 more for the winner, at £25,000.
The 2020–21 snooker season was a professional snooker season with tournaments played from 13 September 2020 to 9 May 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was played almost entirely without a live audience with only the 2021 World Snooker Championship being played in front of a crowd. All snooker tournaments in the season were played in the United Kingdom, due to travel and quarantine restrictions preventing the tour and players from utilising usual venues.