The Assembly Rooms Theatre, formally named the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre after
Sir Thomas Allen, is a historic 175-seat
proscenium arch theatre located in the centre of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. It is home to two local theatre companies and 28 Durham Student Theatre companies, and also hosts touring companies. The theatre is owned by
Durham University and managed by Experience Durham, a department of the university.
History
Built in the eighteenth century, with the oldest surviving reference being a newspaper advert from 1741, the Assembly Rooms Theatre originally functioned as a ballroom, before being chosen to be redeveloped as a theatre after Durham's Theatre Royal burnt down in a fire in 1869.
Its first dramatic performance, ''
Il Trovatore
''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
'', was presented in 1891.
[ It was also used as a cinema, with the first projection being made in December 1896 only a month after the first film shown in Durham (at the Court Lane Theatre).][ It was also the venue for what was probably the first film drama shown in Durham, '' The Great Train Robbery'', in 1903, and by 1912 films had virtually replaced live drama at the theatre.]H.M.S. Pinafore
''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, whic ...
'' in 1909, the theatre continued to be used extensively by Durham Amateur Operatic Group in the early twentieth century, until its acquisition by Durham University in 1930. The university used the theatre as a drill hall until the 1950s, when it was renovated to enable theatrical performances to be hosted once again.[ From 2007-9 the theatre was refurbished once again, funded by the Gillian Dickinson Trust. This included a complete refurbishment of the auditorium, foyer and box office. This was followed by a further £2.4M refurbishment in 2019, that reduced capacity to 175 but added wheel chair access, a bar and a lift, as well as restoring the ornate ceiling and removing asbestos. The refurbishment won the City of Durham Trust Architectural Award in 2020.]
Shows
The theatre is home to two local theatre companies, ''Grim Up North'' and ''Elysium Theatre'', as well as 28 Durham Student Theatre companies.
During term time, The Assembly Rooms Theatre usually hosts at least one production per week These student performances are programmed by the Durham Student Theatre committee, and can feature any of the society's 28 companies.
The theatre annually participates in Durham Drama Festival in February. The theatre also participates in Durham Festival of the Arts in June, a collaborative venture between Music Durham and Durham Student Theatre to present a programme of musical and theatrical performances from Durham University students. It is one of the venues for the Durham Fringe festival, held annually in July.
References
External links
The Assembly Rooms Theatre website
Durham Student Theatre website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assembly Rooms Theatre
Theatres in County Durham