Grand Theatre, Lancaster

The Grand Theatre in Lancaster, England is one of the oldest theatres in England and the third oldest in Britain, having been in near continuous use since 1782.[1] Though it was seen numerous extensions and alterations, much of the original stone has survived.[1] The theatre is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

The Grand Theatre, Lancaster
The Theatre, Theatre Royal, Music Hall, Athenaeum, Athenaeum Theatre[1]
The Grand Theatre, Lancaster
Location in Lancaster
AddressSt Leonardgate
Lancaster
LA1 1NL
Lancaster
England
Coordinates54.0502°N 2.7967°W / 54.0502; -2.7967
OwnerLancaster Footlights
Registered charity no 509425
Capacity457
Current useProfessional and amateur theatre
Construction
Opened1782
Rebuilt1848, 1857, 1884,
(interior) 1908, 1978[1]
Website
www.LancasterGrand.co.uk
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameGrand Theatre
Designated9 July 1974
Reference no.1195050

Prior to its construction, theatrical performances were held in barns and inns in Lancaster as early as the 1760s.[3] for example during the summer of 1777, the play The Orphan of China by Arthur Murphy was performed in one of these temporary theatres.[4][5]

The theatre was built in 1781, becoming one of the first permanent theatres in Britain. The theatre was opened in June 1782, by Joseph Austin (an actor) and Charles Edward Whitlock (a dentist), who managed a circuit of theatres across the north of England.[3] It was known simply as "The Theatre, Lancaster".

In that first summer, the plays Hamlet and The Belle's Stratagem were performed at the theatre, and received good reviews.[3] In 1795, Macbeth was performed, and playing Lady Macbeth was Sarah Siddons, who was the sister-in-law of Whitlock.[3][6] In September 1833 Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini played at the theatre.[7] By the end of the 1830s, the theatre was less used for performances, and increasingly used for meetings of the Temperance society and for formal lectures.[8] In 1843 Edmund Sharpe bought the theatre, and after an extension and alteration, he reopened it in 1849 as a music hall as well as a museum for the local Literary and Natural History Society.[1] By 1860 it was owned and operated by a private company called the Lancaster Athenaeum, which Sharpe founded.[9]

The theatre was closed in 1882.[10] In May 1884 the theatre found a new owner, Henry Wilkinson, who had the building was altered, and it was re-opened as the Athenaeum Theatre.[1][7] In 1897 the theatre was modified again, including a new stage, by architect Frank Matcham.[1]

The work of Matcham was lost when the building was badly damaged by fire in 1908. With the interior rebuilt in the same year (the new design by architect Albert Winstanley), it re-opened as The Grand Theatre.[1][11]

The Grand Theatre seats 457 on two levels. It is owned by the Lancaster Footlights who started performing in the 1920s and bought the Grand Theatre in 1951 to save it from demolition.[12] The Grand Theatre plays host to amateur and professional shows. There are plans for a major building programme, "New spaces", to start in 2009: one extension will provide new reception, foyer and bar space and another will provide rehearsal space, workshop, costume department and scenery storage space.[13]

See also

References
Notes
  1. "Grand (Lancaster)". Theatre Trust. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  2. Historic England. "Grand Theatre, Lancaster (1195050)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. Dalziel, p.139
  4. Fleury, p.226–230.
  5. Clark, Christopher (1801). An historical and descriptive account of the town of Lancaster. p. 45.
  6. Lancaster Archaeological and Historical Society. "Virtual tour of Lancaster: Grand theatre". Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  7. Fleury, p.228
  8. Winstanley, p.185
  9. Winstanley, p.185 says "operated after 1849 by a private company which he found, the Lancaster Athenaeum", while the Theatre Trust website says "From 1860 it was owned by the Lancaster Athenaeum Company".
  10. The Theatre Trust website says it "was closed as unsafe in 1882", while Winstanley p.204 says "Even before the promoters of the Athenaeum went into liquidation in 1882.."
  11. "History". Lancaster Grand Theatre. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  12. "The Lancaster Footlights". Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  13. "A theatre for the 21st century". Lancaster Guardian. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
Bibliography
  • Fleury, Cross (1891), Time-Honoured Lancaster
  • Dalziel, Nigel (2001), "Trade and Transition, 1690 – 1815", A History of Lancaster, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 117–172, ISBN 0-7486-1466-4
  • Winstanley, Michael (2001), "The Town Transformed, 1815–1914", A History of Lancaster, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 173–228, ISBN 0-7486-1466-4
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