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 Live Theatre, in August 2010 | |
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| Address | Broad Chare, Quayside Newcastle upon Tyne United Kingdom |
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| Capacity | 170 |
| Opened | 1982 |
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| live | |
Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out and nurtures creative talent and runs a large education programme for young people.
Originally founded in Tyneside in 1973 by Val McLane, Geoff Gillham and Dave Clark, [1] the company originally toured its work regionally to non-traditional theatre settings, such as community halls and working men's clubs. The company was creating plays and stories that were relevant to the North East community and sought to break down barriers by presenting this work to ordinary working-class people within their own communities.[ citation needed ]
The company has been based in Newcastle Quayside since 1982, expanding over the years to occupy the current premises which combine converted warehouses and Almshouses to create a building which houses a theatre auditorium, café bar, rehearsal spaces and administrative offices. Live Theatre also took over the lease of a new warehouse building on Broad Chare, immediately adjacent to the previous theatre. In 2007 Live Theatre underwent a further capital development. It now has a cabaret style theatre, a studio theatre, renovated rehearsal rooms, a series of dedicated writer's rooms as well as a café, bar and gastro pub, The Broad Chare, all in a restored and refurbished complex of five Grade II listed buildings. [2]
Live Theatre develops new writing talent in the region. The company has enjoyed significant relationships with many writers such as CP Taylor, Tom Hadaway, Alan Plater and, more recently, Peter Flannery, Michael Chaplin, Peter Straughan, Julia Darling, Lee Hall, Sean O'Brien and Karen Laws. Many plays have been commissioned and produced over the years which are now known nationally and internationally, such as Close The Coalhouse Door, Cooking with Elvis , Operation Elvis and And a Nightingale Sang .[ citation needed ]
In 2013 Live Theatre celebrated 40 years of creating plays on Tyneside with a programme that included a new national tour of Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters by Bill Kenwright Limited, and sell out runs at Live Theatre of Tyne by Michael Chaplin, Wet House by new talent Paddy Campbell and a revival of Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis . [3] Wet House successfully transferred to the Soho Theatre in 2014. [4]
Between January and June 2014 Live Theatre presented a series screenplays in development by writer Lee Hall, which includes scrips in development about English cricketer Harold Larwood, a film adaptation of Down and out in paris and london based on the book by George Orwell, Rocket Man about the life of pop star Elton John and Victoria and Abdul based on the life of Queen Victoria and her manservant and For The End of Time based on the life and works of French composer Messiaen. All were read as script-in-hand readings in Live Theatre's main theatre. [5]
Incognito by Nick Payne was a co-production between Live Theatre, nabokov, HighTide Festival Theatre and in association with The North Wall, Oxford in spring 2014, which previewed at Live Theatre in April 2014, before going to HighTide Festival and The North Wall. It returned to Live Theatre in May 2014 and then had a sell-out run at The Bush Theatre, London. [6]
Live Theatre's 2013 show Captain Amazing written by Bruntwood Prize winning author Alistair McDowall, directed by Clive Judd and starring Mark Weinman returned to Live Theatre in May 2014 and was performed at Northern Stage's Kings Hall Edinburgh venue for a week as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In November 2014 Live Theatre premiered Flying into Daylight, a new play by Emmy-award-winning screenwriter Ron Hutchinson. Drawn from a true story, the play features live Tango music created and performed by Tango musician Julian Rowlands and dance choreographed by Amir Giles. [7]
In 2017 Live Theatre productions Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, written by Lee Hall and co-produced with National Theatre of Scotland, was nominated for two Olivier Awards, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, whilst all the all female cast of Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty Maclaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuiness and Dawn Sievewright were jointly nominated for the Olivier Award of Best Actress in a Supporting role. [8] The show then went on to complete a West End run at the Duke of York's Theatre, London.
The Red Lion by Patrick Marber, starring Stephen Tompkinson, had successful runs at Live Theatre and on a West End transfer, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. [9]
The theatre also hosts a free creative writing programme for KS2 and KS3 students called Live Tales in studios behind the theatre in Newcastle and at The Fire Station, Sunderland.
Live Theatre runs the largest free youth theatre group in the North East of England, which runs weekly sessions for young people of mixed ability ages 11–25. Live Youth Theatre was founded in 1998 by Live Theatre's current Senior Creative Associate Children and Young People, Paul James at the request of then Artistic Director Max Roberts, and has notable alumni including Laura Norton, Dean Bone, and Natalie Jamieson
The current Artistic Director of Live Theatre is Jack McNamara.
Max Roberts, Artistic Director until 2018, is currently Emeritus Artistic Director, and also lectures at the University of Sunderland.
Chief Executive of Live Theatre is Jacqui Kell.
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.
The Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT) within the UK and as the National Theatre of Great Britain internationally, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England. The theatre was founded by the actor Laurence Olivier in 1963, and many well-known actors have performed with it since.
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the "Old Vic". In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis, assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened.
Lee Hall is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the film Billy Elliot (2000) and the book and lyrics for its adaptation as a stage musical of the same name. In addition, he wrote the play The Pitmen Painters (2007), and the screenplays for the films War Horse and Rocketman (2019).
Timothy Supple is a British born, award-winning international theatre director. He is the son of the academic Barry Supple.
The Kiln Theatre is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as new writing, political work and verbatim reconstructions of public inquiries.
Mark Anthony McGann is an English actor.
Cecil Philip Taylor usually credited as C. P. Taylor, was a Scottish playwright. He wrote almost 80 plays during his 16 years as a professional playwright, including several for radio and television. He also made a number of documentary programmes for the BBC. His plays tended to draw on his Jewish background and his Socialist Marxist viewpoint, and to be written in dialect.
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres.
The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at home and internationally.
Michael Chaplin is an English theatre, radio, television and non-fiction writer and former television producer and executive. He grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne where he now lives and works again.
Sharon Percy is a British actress.
Theatre503, formerly the Latchmere Theatre, is a theatre located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. The venue is known for promoting the work of new writers.
The Tyneside Cinema is an independent cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the city's only full-time independent cultural cinema, specialising in the screening of independent and world cinema from across the globe. The last remaining Newsreel theatre to be in full-time operation in the UK, it is a Grade II-listed building. The Tyneside's patrons are filmmakers Mike Figgis and Mike Hodges, and musicians Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and Paul Smith of Maxïmo Park. Its cultural remit is set by the trustees and is a requisite for continued funding from sponsors such as the BFI and the Arts Council.
Christopher Oram is a British theatre set and costume designer.
A chare, in the dialect of North-east England, is a narrow medieval street or alley.
James Charles Dacre is a British theatre, opera and film director and producer. He was artistic director of Royal & Derngate Theatres in Northampton from 2013-2023 and prior to that held Associate Director roles at The New Vic Theatre, Theatre503 and The National Youth Theatre.
Esmeralda Devlin is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. She has received several accolades including a Tony Award and two Olivier Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 by Queen Elizabeth II for services to design. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.
Laura Norton is an English actress, known for her role as Kerry Wyatt on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Norton has also appeared in numerous television series working for ITV and the BBC, and has significant theatre credits, including The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Live Theatre Company.
Jonathan Richard Driscoll is an English Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated theatre projection designer and lighting designer working in the West End and on Broadway. He is a Technical Associate of the National Theatre in London.
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