United Kingdom: outside London

Bristol Hippodrome

The Bristol Hippodrome was designed by Frank Matcham, a prolific theatre designer in the UK, and opened on 16 December 1912. 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.

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.

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 19th century stage machinery, the only original example of its kind throughout provincial theatres across the UK.

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. When reopened in 1994, the Festival Theatre boasted the largest stage in Europe.

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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King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

The 1906 King’s Theatre was designed by James Davidson (exterior) and J.D. Swanston (interior), originally as a rival to the city’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, however in 1928 merged into the UK theatre empire managed by impresarios Howard & Wyndham. The theatre is locally known as “The Grand Old Lady of Leven Street”.

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

The Lyceum Theatre is the only surviving theatre outside of London designed by noted theatre architect William G.R. Sprague. The current theatre is the third to have been built on the site. 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.

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.

Theatre Royal, Bristol

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.

Theatre Royal, Glasgow

The Theatre Royal is Glasgow’s oldest theatre, having first opened in 1867. Following two fires in the 1880s it was rebuilt to the designs of architect C.J. Phipps and is now the largest surviving example of his work. In the 1950s the theatre was adapted for use as a television theatre, however reverted to theatrical use when Scottish Opera bought the theatre in 1975.

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