New (Hull)

• Theatre ID
  2126
• Built / Converted
  1939
• Dates of use
  • 1939: continuing
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Theatre
• Address
  Kingston Square, Hull, East Yorkshire, HU1 3HF, England
• Website
  • http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/hullnewtheatre

Details

The building was originally constructed as a Georgian Assembly Rooms. The foundation stone was laid on 28 June 1830. In 1924 an amateur theatre group formed the Hull Repertory Theatre and secured the use of an old lecture theatre. The success of the group attracted them to the Assembly Rooms next door, and a deal was made which allowed the city to extend the fire station (!) on to the site of the lecture theatre (then known as the Little Theatre) which in turn allowed the theatre group to acquire the Assembly Rooms which now adjoin the fire station! Architects W B Wheatley and Robert Cromie were appointed to draw up the conversion plans for the building. Externally they appear to have blinded most of the Georgian windows and demolished two elegant pediments over handsome Ionic porticos on Kingston Square and Jarrat Street. Internally the Assembly Rooms were gutted to allow a complete new scheme to be executed. The results were not strikingly successful. A single straight balcony abuts harshly into the side walls and one oversized box is ‘hung’ on each side of the auditorium. The functional elements of a theatre auditorium are all present but in an uneasy relationship. The wide, sprawling auditorium has no true point of command and the balcony is a long way from the stage. The plaster ornament is sparse. The moulded rectangular proscenium arch is surrounded by a decorative metal grille which probably served a ventilation duct. Some improvements were made in 1966 and 1968: the auditorium was reseated, the orchestra pit enlarged, and most significantly the stage was deepened. In the 1980s the front protico was ‘glazed in’ to provide additional front of house facilities, and at the same time the foyers were remodelled.

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• Other names
  Assembly Rooms
• Events
  • 1939 Use: continuing
  • 1834 Design/Construction: as Assembly Rooms
    • R H Sharp - Architect
  • 1939 Alteration: converted to theatre
    • W B Wheatley & Robert Cromie - Architect
  • 1968 Alteration: auditorium and stage improved
    • Hull City Council (?) - Architect
  • 1985 Alteration: major refurbishment; entrance portico glazed in to provide additional front of house facilities
    • Hull City Council - Architect
  • 1995 Alteration: improvements to disabled access
    • Hull City Council (?) - Architect
  • 1939 Owner/Management: Little Theatre (Hull) Ltd
  • 1940 Owner/Management: The New Theatre (Hull) Ltd
  • 1951 Owner/Management: Whitehall Theatres (London) Ltd
  • 1961 Owner/Management: Hull City Council, owners
  • 1964 Owner/Management: Kingston upon Hull New Theatre Company Ltd, manager
• Capacities
  • Later: 1946: 1221
  • Current: 1189
• Listings
  • Grade II - 12.11.1973; 21.1.1994
• Stage type
  • Flat; proscenium with apron
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 12m Wings: SL 4.88m SR 5.18m
  • Proscenium width: 10.98m x 7.01m
  • Height to grid: 14.78m 47 c/w lines, 7 double-purchase; 2 hemp
  • Orchestra pit: Flexible, 7-70; Two sections
• Unreliable anecdotes
  Said to be a good theatre!