Theatre Royal (York)

• Theatre ID
  2196
• Built / Converted
  1765
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Theatre
• Address
  St Leonard’s Place, York, North Yorkshire, YO1 7HD, England

Details

A theatre was first built on the present site in 1765, and a Royal patent was granted in 1769. The building was often reconstructed but never at any time totally demolished, so that it is now an extraordinary complex of many periods. At the rear there is Georgian fabric, including a complete three-storey house front, three windows wide, with hipped roof and eaves cornice. The present main façe dates from 1880, and the present auditorium and stage from a major rebuilding of 1902. The stone façe is in a gutsy Victorian Gothic style - three storeys under a wide gable flanked by corbelled turrets, and crowned by crocketted niche containing a statue. A big oriel window projects from the centre of the first floor and at ground level there is an open arcade of five pointed arches. In 1967 the stonework was cleaned, ugly accretions removed and the arcade opened up. The auditorium is superbly intimate, yet also has a feeling of noble spaciousness. This is partly due to the overall dimensions and partly to the sweeping curves of the closely-spaced shallow balconies (six rows each). Sight lines are excellent, even from the sides of the steeply-raked upper balcony. Flanking the stage are ranges of superimposed, bow-fronted boxes - two on either side at the levels of the first and second balconies and a single, wide box at the top. The boxes are framed by tall, panelled pilasters, linked just below the ceiling by a wide elliptical arch. The proscenium has a segmentally-arched top and a deep curving sounding-board. Although some of the plasterwork is conventional Baroque, e.g. the balusters on the fronts of the lower boxes, the majority is in an imaginative and fluid version of the Art Nouveau - possibly the only example of the full-blooded use of this style in British theatre design. In 1967 the stalls were reseated with continuous rows and the rear part partitioned off to form a new cloak room and exhibition space. The seating capacity was reduced from 1300 to 950 - unfortunately at the same time reducing the theatre’s viability for touring opera and ballet etc. Also in 1967 a new entrance foyer, restaurant and bars were added to the left of the theatre. These were housed in an elegant glass-walled pavilion by Patrick Gwynne consisting of a cluster of hexagonal concrete ‘mushrooms’ sprouting from slender tapered columns. The lightness of the new work forms a pleasing contrast with the Gothic solidity of the old. It is infinitely more successful than the similarly briefed, and near contemporary addition at Liverpool Playhouse (q.v.). Access to all levels is now gained by a single, sinuous staircase set alongside the exposed stonework of the flanking elevation of the old building. As part of the same project, the dressing rooms, offices, workshops, etc were modernised and partly rebuilt. The auditorium was also redecorated in a rather dull scheme using twelve shades of green. Fortunately in 1979 this was changed to a warmer, more attractive scheme using brown, cream and gold. In 1993 problems with the glazing of the 1967 addition had to be dealt with and the joints are now a little more visible than Gwynne intended. The theatre is owned by the City Council. A producing theatre with some touring productions.

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• Events
  • 1765 Design/Construction:
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1766 Owner/Management: Tate Wilkinson
  • 1822 Alteration: reconstructed
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1835 Alteration: Gothic arcade added
    • John Harper - Architect
  • 1866 Alteration: remodelled
    • John Coleman - Architect
  • 1880 Alteration: new façade
    • George Styan (City Surveyor) - Architect
  • 1888 Alteration: remodelled
    • John Coleman - Architect
  • 1902 Alteration: new auditorium and stage
    • Frank Tugwell - Architect
  • 1912 Owner/Management: Percy Hutchinson, lessee
  • 1947 Owner/Management: by York Citizens Theatre Trust Ltd
  • 1967 Alteration: new foyer alongside
    • Patrick Gwynne - Architect
  • 1967 Design/Construction:
  • 1994 Alteration: altered and reseated
    • Allen Tod (Leeds) - Architect
• Capacities
  • Later: 1912: 1945 1946: 1378 1967: 950 1970: 927
  • Current: 863
• Listings
  • Grade II*
• Stage type
  • Proscenium Rake 1:24
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 8.6m min (27-30ft)
  • Proscenium width: 9.14m (30ft)
  • Height to grid: 13.1m (43ft)
  • Orchestra pit: Original for 10