Little Theatre (Leicester)

Last updated

Leicester Little Theatre
Teatr Maly w Leicester.jpg
Little Theatre (Leicester)
Address Leicester
England, UK
Coordinates 52°37′54″N1°07′45″W / 52.6318°N 1.1292°W / 52.6318; -1.1292
OwnerLeicester Drama Society
TypeAmateur Theatre
Capacity 349
Opened1932
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.

Contents

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.

History

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.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of theatre</span> Collaborative form of performing art

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Festival Fringe</span> Arts festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Montfort Hall</span> Music and performance venue in Leicester, England

De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the "Father of Parliament", Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octagon Theatre, Bolton</span> Theatre in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England

The Octagon Theatre is a producing theatre located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside Studios</span> Arts centre and television studios in Hammersmith, London, England

Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.

Pembroke Players is an amateur theatrical society in Cambridge, England, founded in 1955 and run by the students of Pembroke College, Cambridge. It is the most active College drama society in the university, staging or producing over 25 drama productions and comedy smokers every year. It is also the only College drama society to run its own international tours. During its lifetime it has been the starting point for many prominent actors and comedians, such as Clive James, Peter Cook and Eric Idle, and more recently Tom Hiddleston, Jonny Sweet and Joe Thomas. The Society celebrated its 60th birthday in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drama Studio, University of Sheffield</span>

The Drama Studio is an intimate 177 seat theatre venue owned by the University of Sheffield and operated by the University’s Performance Venues department. Opened in 1970, it is housed in the former Glossop Road Baptist Church and retains many of the original architectural features. The studio also offers 3 individual rehearsal spaces that are available to hire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanemuine</span> Theatre in Tartu, Estonia

Vanemuine is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It is the first Estonian-language theatre. Stemming from the Vanemuine Society (1865), the theatre's first performance was Lydia Koidula's Saaremaa Onupoeg at the society's fifth anniversary. In subsequent years, Vanemuine has expanded to include a symphony orchestra and ballet company, while its repertoire has included a range of operettas and music theatre through operas and dramas. Under Karl Menning, the theatre served a vocational purpose, with a great emphasis on educating future talent. Subsequent directors prioritized entertainment value, while Kaarel Ird—who led Vanemuine for more than forty years—oversaw a blend of genres as well as tours of the Soviet Union. In recent years, content has varied extensively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Townsend Theatre</span>

Sue Townsend Theatre is a theatre in the city of Leicester, England. The centre hosts live shows and films of the arthouse and world cinema genres. Julian Wright is credited for his work to preserve the theatre from demolition in the 1980s and in the 2000s. In 2010, after a new Phoenix Square opened on the other side of the city centre, the space became the Upper Brown Street Theatre, a music training and performance venue. It has since been renamed the Sue Townsend Theatre, to honour the late Leicester author and playwright, Sue Townsend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicester Square Theatre</span> British theatre in London, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malthouse Theatre</span> Theatre in Melbourne, Australia

Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. It is a heritage-listed building which contains three theatres: Merlyn Theatre, Beckett Theatre, and The Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canberra Theatre Centre</span> Performing arts venue in Canberra

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberystwyth Arts Centre</span> Arts centre in Aberystwyth, Wales

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinnacle Playhouse</span>

The Pinnacle Playhouse is a theatre in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. It houses the Belleville Theatre Guild, a member of the Eastern Ontario Drama League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwark Playhouse</span> Theatre located in London

Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations.

Just the Tonic is a comedy club with branches in Nottingham and Leicester, which also takes acts to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The club opened in Nottingham in 1994, followed by a Leicester branch in 2012.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey Theatre, Nuneaton</span>

The Abbey Theatre is situated on Pool Bank Street in the Abbey Ward of Nuneaton, England, and is managed and run by volunteers by the Nuneaton Arts Council (NAC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrick Theatre (Stockport)</span> Theatre in Stockport, England

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.

References

  1. 1 2 This is Leicestershire - 3 August 2009 - Little Theatre is a big attraction
  2. This is Leicestershire - 24 May 2011 - Curtain rises for the Little Theatre's 1000th
  3. This is Leicestershire - 13 March 2012 - Festival's favourite's honoured
  4. "Theatre offered £280k site to expand - if it can raise £3m". 28 March 2018.