The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, next to the

Haymarket Shopping Centre The Haymarket Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in the city centre of Leicester, England. It was opened on 4 June 1973 as part of the Haymarket Centre and was the country's second shopping centre after the Bull Ring, Birmingham. It is locate ...

on Belgrave Gate in

Leicester City centre Leicester City Centre is Leicester's historical commercial, cultural and transport hub and is home to its central business district. Its inner core is roughly delineated by the A594, Leicester's inner ring road, although the various central c ...

History

The Haymarket Theatre was opened by

Sir Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

and the opening season started with ''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

'' on 17 October 1973, ''Economic Necessity'' on 24 October and ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

'' on 21 November.

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

purchased a 99-year lease of the theatre in 1974. Between 1974 and 2007 the theatre was operated by The Leicester Theatre Trust. The trust vacated the theatre in 2007 when it moved to the newly built Curve Theatre, Leicester in Leicester's Cultural Quarter. The last show held at the Haymarket by the Leicester Theatre Trust was '' Wizard of Oz'' starring

Helena Blackman Helena Blackman (born 10 December 1982 in Southampton) is a British musical theatre actress, best known for being the runner-up in the hit BBC1 Reality TV programme '' How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?''. She trained at the Guildford Sc ...

and Ceri Dupree in 2006. The theatre was closed in 2007 and remained so for the next 10 years. In June 2016 the management of the theatre was taken over by an organisation known as the Haymarket Consortium who undertook that it would be re-opened as a performance, training and

e-sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

venue. The theatre was re-opened for performances on 2 March 2017 and a formal opening ceremony took place later that year. The theatre closed again in March 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic and entered liquidation on 22 May 2020.

Metal Tree sculpture

The ''Metal Tree'' sculpture by

Hubert Dalwood Hubert Cyril Dalwood (2 June 1924 – 2 November 1976) was a British sculptor. He was widely known as 'Nibs'. Life Dalwood was born on 2 June 1924 at 78 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol. He was apprenticed to the Bristol Aeroplane Company ...

, at the front of the entrance to the Haymarket Theatre, was the only major piece of abstract sculpture in the city centre for many years. It was unveiled in 1974.

Notable productions

* ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'' in 1974 directed by Robin Midgley and featuring

Maynard Williams Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in ''Gre ...

as Joseph * ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

'' in 1977 directed by

Robin Midgley Robin Midgley (10 November 1934 – 19 May 2007) was a director in theatre, television and radio and responsible for some of the earliest episodes of ''Z-Cars'' and for the television version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's ''Wars of the Roses ...

and featuring

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd, OBE (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née ...

* ''

The Ghost of Daniel Lambert ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' in 1981 written by Sue Townsend and starred Leicester actor

Perry Cree Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermentation (food), fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcesters ...

* '' Me and My Girl'' in 1984 directed by

Mike Ockrent Michael Robert Ockrent (18 June 1946 – 2 December 1999) was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing ''Educating Rita'', '' The Nerd'' an ...

and featuring Robert Lindsay,

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

, and

Frank Thornton Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was known for playing Captain Peacock in ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel ''Grace & Favour'' (''Are You Being Served? ...

* ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' in 1984 directed by

Nancy Meckler Nancy Meckler is an American theatre and film director, known for her work in the United Kingdom with Shared Experience, where she was a joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale. Life and career Nancy Meckler was born and educated in the ...

and featuring

Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the ...

and

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

* '' M Butterfly'' in 1989 directed by

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

and featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins * ''

Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Du ...

'' in 1989 directed by Simon Usher

Image gallery

File:Leicester Haymarket Theatre exterior.jpg, Red-brick exterior to the theatre File:Leicester Haymarket Theatre interior.jpg, Foyer area demonstrating Brutailst architecture File:Leicester Haymarket Theatre auditorium.jpg, The main auditorium has 901 seats File:Leicester Haymarket Theatre stage.jpg, alt=The main stage is the largest in England, The main stage is the largest in England File:Leicester Haymarket Theatre Metal Tree Sculpture.png, ''Metal Tree'' sculpture

References

Leicester Theatres in Leicester Culture in Leicestershire {{UK-theat-struct-stub

History

Metal Tree sculpture

Notable productions

Image gallery

See also

References