Address | Leicester England, UK |
---|---|
Coordinates | 52°37′54″N1°07′45″W / 52.6318°N 1.1292°W |
Owner | Leicester Drama Society |
Type | Amateur Theatre |
Capacity | 349 |
Opened | 1932 |
Website | |
http://www.thelittletheatre.co.uk/ |
The Little Theatre is a theatre venue based in Leicester, England which is operated by the Leicester Drama Society (LDS). The Theatre has a main auditorium which seats 349, along with an additional studio space. The theatre facilities include a bar, two rehearsal spaces, library and costume hire. The Little Theatre hosts around 200 productions a year, has an annual turnover of £580,000 and receives 50,000 visitors a year. [1] The theatre is equipped for audio description.
Productions at The Little Theatre are primarily plays from the resident amateur theatre company LDS and its members. LDS produce around 200 productions a year, with each season consisting of 12 plays and 1 pantomime. LDS productions usually consist of 6 evening performances and 1 matinee performance. LDS also hire the venue to professional acts, other community groups and events. Acts have included Prunella Scales, William Roache, Topping and Butch and Charles Dance. A youth theatre group also operates for ages 8–12, and 13–18.
Leicester born playwright Joe Orton and actor Richard Attenborough are both former alumni from the society.
Leicester Drama Society was formed in 1922 and occupied the upper floor of the old Rechabite Chapel on Dover Street, Leicester. The society purchased the building for £14,000 in 1932, renaming the building The Little Theatre.
In 1955 parts of the theatre had to be rebuilt due to a fire. [1]
In 2011 the theatre celebrated its 1,000th production with the Thornton Wilder play Our Town . [2]
In 2012 the theatre won Best Venue in Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival Awards. [3]
In 2012 it was announced that The Little Theatre would be expanding. The expansion would result in 2 new rehearsal rooms, new studio, new workshop, new box office and foyer as well as providing better disabled access. The build requires the theatre to raise £2 million. The project was due to start in 2015, but suffered with funding issues. In 2018, Mayor Peter Soulsby offered the Little Theatre £280,000 if they could raise £3 million on their own. [4] The project was due for completion is 2022, in keeping with the Centenary of the theatre.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:
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The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in Leicester Place, immediately north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town and The Venue. The theatre hosts stand-up comedy, cabaret, music, plays and comedies.
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Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC), also known as the Canberra Theatre, is the Australian Capital Territory’s central performing arts venue and Australia's first performing arts centre, the first Australian Government initiated performing arts centre to be completed. It opened on 24 June 1965 with a gala performance by the Australian Ballet.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre, concert hall, studio and cinema, as well as four gallery spaces and cafés, bars, and shops.
The Little Theatre Gateshead is Gateshead's only theatre. It was built during World War II, thanks to the generosity of sisters Ruth, Sylvia and M. Hope Dodds. It is believed that the theatre is the only one built in Britain during the war. The building process was interrupted by hostilities after the site was acquired in 1939, being at one time requisitioned as a barrage balloon station, and at another having windows and doors damaged by a bomb falling in Saltwell Park, just across the road. The opening performance on October 13, 1943, was A Midsummer Night's Dream. The theatre is home to the Progressive Players Ltd, who produce ten plays per year. The roots of the Progressives were in the Gateshead branch of the Independent Labour Party, but the group is now non-political.
The Pinnacle Playhouse is a theatre in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. It houses the Belleville Theatre Guild, a member of the Eastern Ontario Drama League.
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Bob Slayer is an Edinburgh Comedy Award winning comedian, musician and promoter. He has been part of a new economic model for venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which has made the event fairer and more affordable for performers and audiences. Acts that have performed at his venues have won and been nominated for a number of prestigious awards.
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Stockport Garrick Theatre is a theatre in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, founded in 1901 and in 1904 obtained its own premises in Cobden Place, Wellington Street. It is the oldest "little theatre" in the United Kingdom, being defined as being an amateur theatre that owns, leases or otherwise has control of its own premises.