NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE

The 'Nottingham Playhouse' is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.

Contents

The Building

Performance history

External links

The Building

The current Modern movement theatre was opened in 1963. The architect was Peter Moro who had worked on the interior design of the Royal Festival Hall in London. It was initially controversial as it faces the gothic revival Roman Catholic cathedral designed by Augustus Pugin.
Despite the modern external appearance and the circular auditorium walls, the theatre has a conventional proscenium layout, seating an audience of 770.
During the 1980s, when the concrete interiors were out of fashion, the Playhouse suffered from insensitive "refurbishment" that sought to hide its character. Since 1996, it has been a Grade II
★ listed building and in 2004, the theatre was sympathetically restored and refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
A new sculpture 'Sky Mirror' by Anish Kapoor has been installed between the theatre and the adjacent green space of Wellington Circus. It is one of the main features of the 160 seat patio area of CAST Restaurant.

Performance history

The new theatre's artistic direction was shared between Frank Dunlop and actor John Neville with Peter Ustinov as associate.
The first production in the new theatre was Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus'' in a production by Tyrone Guthrie. This included a young Ian McKellen as Tullus Aufidius opposite Neville in the title role.
Subsequent artistic directors were Stuart Burge, Richard Eyre, Geoffrey Reeves, Richard Digby Day, Kenneth Alan Taylor, Pip Broughton and Martin Duncan. The Playhouse is currently under the leadership of Stephanie Sirr, Chief Executive and Giles Croft Artistic Director.
The Playhouse has a strong tradition of new works for children, both in the form of original writing and more recently in the form of classic pantomimes conceived by former artistic director Kenneth Alan Taylor.
Financial constraints have meant that the theatre no longer generally has a repertory approach to programming. Its recent plays include ''Old Big 'Ead in The Spirit of the Man'', a homage to Nottingham legend Brian Clough and ''Rat Pack Confidential'', which transferred to the West End.

External links

★ Official Site

★ Sky mirror sculpture page

★ CAST Restaurant