Name: Backstage Tour
Start: 2024-10-24T11:00:00+01:00
End: 2024-10-24T12:30:00+01:00
Location: Edinburgh Playhouse

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The UK is home to hundreds of historic theatres including the oldest continually operating theatre in the English-speaking world. Music Halls and Cinemas of particular interest/merit are also included. London theatres are covered in a separate category.

Theatre Tours

Details of theatre tours in the United Kingdom.

Theatre Timeline

An interactive timeline of all theatres in the United Kingdom.

Upcoming Special Events

Special events happening at theatres in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom: outside London

Adelina Patti Theatre, Craig-y-nos

The Patti Theatre opened in July 1891, built as a private home theatre for opera diva Adelina Patti at Craig-y-nos Castle in Powys, Wales. Madame Patti intended her opera house to be a miniature version of La Scala in Milan. Today, it remains largely as built in 1891 and is one of only a handful of Grade I listed theatres in England and Wales.

Blackpool Grand Theatre

The Blackpool Grand Theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in July 1894.

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Blackpool Opera House

The Blackpool Opera House opened in 1939, designed in the Art Deco style by architect Charles McKeith, and replacing the earlier Opera House which had opened in 1899.

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Bristol Hippodrome

The Bristol Hippodrome was designed by Frank Matcham, a prolific theatre designer in the UK. At its opening the theatre featured a huge water tank at the front of the stage which could be filled with 100,000 gallons (450,000 litres) of water, as well as an opening central dome in the auditorium to allow for ventilation.

Bristol Old Vic

The Bristol Old Vic’s Theatre Royal is the United Kingdom’s oldest continuously operating theatre, having opened its doors in May 1766. At the time of opening it did not possess the royal patent required for the public performance of plays, so productions were disguised as concerts and the theatre’s entrance was not directly accessible from the street to minimize unwanted attention.

Britannia Panopticon, Glasgow

The Britannia Panopticon is the United Kingdom’s oldest extant music hall, located within the Britannia Building in the Trongate area of Glasgow’s East End. In accordance with traditions of the time the music hall was built one level above the street, with a public house at street level to serve patrons before and after performances.

Buxton Opera House

The 900-seat Buxton Opera House opened in 1903 and was designed by renowned UK theatre architect Frank Matcham. In part due to its location in a rural area of the country, it survives as one of the best preserved examples of Matcham’s theatre designs.

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Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

The Citizens Theatre first opened as Her Majesty’s Theatre and Royal Opera House in December 1878, and was the first theatre in Glasgow to be built on the south side of the River Clyde. It is notable for having retained much of its elaborate nineteenth century stage machinery, the only original example of its kind throughout provincial theatres across the UK.

Edinburgh Playhouse

The Edinburgh Playhouse was built as a super cinema and opened in 1929. For many years it was the largest theatre, by seating capacity, in the UK.

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Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham opened in October 1891 as the New Theatre and Opera House, seating 1,500 and designed by renowned UK theatre architect Frank Matcham. The theatre was renamed the Everyman Theatre in 1960.

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Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

The Festival Theatre opened in June 1994 as a reincarnation of the Empire Theatre, which existed in several forms since 1892 on what is Edinburgh’s longest continuous theatre site, used for theatrical performance since 1830. The current auditorium dates from 1928 while the stagehouse and Front of House areas are modern facilities.

Gaiety Theatre, Isle of Man

The Gaiety Theatre was constructed on the site of a largely unsuccessful entertainment pavilion, and incorporates parts of the pavilion structure (most notably the roof) into the current building. Renowned UK theatre architect Frank Matcham was engaged to build the new theatre, and the Gaiety is now considered one of his finest surviving theatres.

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Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond

The Georgian Theatre Royal was built by actor-manager Samuel Butler and opened in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in 1788. It is one of the oldest working theatres in the United Kingdom.

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Grand Opera House, Belfast

The Grand Opera House opened in December 1895 presenting variety, music hall (vaudeville) and circus acts. The theatre was designed by prolific UK theatre architect Frank Matcham. The theatre was used as a cinema for a period however now hosts musicals, drama, ballet, opera, and comedy performances as well as educational events and tours.

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Grand Opera House, York

The Grand Opera House in York opened in 1902, designed by architect John P. Briggs. The theatre was built by adapting an old corn exchange (opened in 1868) and an adjacent warehouse.

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His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

The 1,400-seat His Majesty’s Theatre opened in December 1906, designed by renowned UK theatre architect Frank Matcham.

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King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre, opened in December 1906, was originally built to rival to the city’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, however found a different audience and in 1928 merged with the UK theatre chain managed by impresarios Howard & Wyndham. The King’s is locally known as The Grand Old Lady of Leven Street.

King’s Theatre, Glasgow

The King’s Theatre was built for Howard & Wyndham Ltd as a sister theatre to the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, and was designed by renowned UK theatre architect Frank Matcham. The theatre opened in 1904 and since then has been Glasgow’s home of legitimate theatre and popular pantomime.

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

The Lyceum Theatre is the only surviving theatre outside of London designed by noted theatre architect William G.R. Sprague. Despite having been threatened with demolition in the 1970s and falling into a state of disrepair by the 1980s, the Lyceum was fully refurbished and reopened in December 1990.

Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow

One of Glasgow’s oldest theatres, the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties opened on 29 February 1904 as a music hall. The theatre was designed by UK theatre architect Bertie Crewe and is well-known in the City as being the peoples’ theatre of Glasgow.

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Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre is an intimate 658-seat playhouse completed in 1883. It was the first in Britain to be fitted with an iron safety/fire curtain and the first in Scotland to use electricity for house lighting. The Lyceum is named after the 1834 Lyceum Theatre in London’s West End.

Spanish Hall, Blackpool Winter Gardens

Originally opened as the Spanish Congress Hall in late May 1931, the hall was part of several new additions to the Blackpool Winter Gardens in the early 1930s. At its opening the hall was said to seat 2,000 under a roof that “gives the effect of perpetual sunshine”.

Sunderland Empire

The Empire Palace opened in July 1907, built by the partnership of Edward Moss, Oswald Stoll, and Richard Thornton. The theatre was designed by architect brothers William and Thomas Milburn who would go on to become the favored architects of the Stoll Moss group.

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Theatre Royal, Bristol

Theatre Royal, Glasgow

The Theatre Royal is Glasgow’s oldest surviving theatre, having first opened in 1867. Following a fire in 1879 the theatre was rebuilt to the designs of noted theatre architect C.J. Phipps and is now the largest surviving example of his work. The Theatre Royal was used as a television studio from the late 1950s before being sold to Scottish Opera and renovated for theatrical use in 1974.

Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne

The Theatre Royal opened in early 1837, designed by local architects John and Benjamin Green. Thirty years later the interior was redesigned by C.J. Phipps. Following a fire in 1899, the interior was redesigned by Frank Matcham. While the exterior retains its 1837 appearance, the interior has been restored to Matcham’s 1901 design.

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Theatre Royal, Nottingham

The Theatre Royal opened in September 1865, designed by noted UK theatre architect C.J. Phipps. The theatre underwent a major renovation that was completed in 1977. Since then, the theatre has been – and continues to be – at the heart of theatre in Nottingham, over 150 years later.

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Theatre Royal, Richmond

The Georgian Theatre Royal was built by actor-manager Samuel Butler and opened in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in 1788. It is one of the oldest working theatres in the United Kingdom.

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Theatre Royal, York

The theatre first opened as the New Theatre in 1744, although did not gain a Royal Patent for the presentation of the spoken word until 1769 at which time at which time it became known as the Theatre Royal.

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Tower Ballroom, Blackpool

The Blackpool Tower Ballroom opened in 1899, designed by renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham.

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Tower Circus, Blackpool

The Blackpool Tower Circus opened in May 1894, designed by renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham.

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Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle upon Tyne

The Tyne Theatre & Opera House opened in 1867 and was designed by architect William Parnell. It is one of only a few Grade I listed theatres in England. The theatre was used as a cinema for many years before reverting to theatrical use in the late 1970s, and is now overseen by registered charity the Tyne Theatre & Opera House Preservation Trust.

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