Stephen Joseph Theatre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stephen Joseph Theatre | |
 |
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| Stephen Joseph Theatre | |
|---|---|
| Address |
Westborough
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| City | |
| Owned by | Scarborough Theatre Development Trust |
| Capacity | 404-seat (main house) 165-seat (studio/cinema) |
| Opened | 30 April 1996 |
| Production | Visiting and own productions |
| www.sjt.uk.com | |
| Coordinates: | |
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain.
In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on the first floor of the Public Library.
The theatre flourished and in 1976 moved to a supposedly temporary home on the ground floor of the former Scarborough Boys' High School.
However, a permanent home proved difficult to find and it was not until late 1988 and the closure of the local Odeon cinema by Rank Leisure that the theatre's long-standing Artistic Director, Alan Ayckbourn, found a suitable venue.
The new theatre, known simply as the Stephen Joseph Theatre, comprises two auditoria: The Round, a 404-seat in the round and The McCarthy, a 165-seat endstage/cinema. The building also contains a restaurant, shop, and full front-of-house and backstage facilities.
The Round boasts two important technical innovations: the stage lift, facilitating speedy set changes and the trampoline, a Canadian invention which allows technicians particularly easy access to the lighting grid.
