The Old Joint Stock Theatre is a studio theatre and pub located at 4 Temple Row West in the centre of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
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 ...
. The listed building was designed as a library but owes its present name to its use by Birmingham Joint Stock Bank.
History
The present day theatre and pub is housed in a grade II listed building built as a library by architect
J. A. Chatwin in 1862.
The Pub
The Old Joint Stock Bank, Retrieved 15 October 2015 The building was acquired by the ''Birmingham Joint Stock Bank''. The Birmingham Joint Stock Bank, established in 1861,[ had four branches within the city; the oldest one, here in Temple Row, was opened for business in 1862.]Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
in 1889.[Administrative / Biographical History]
Archiveshub.ac.uk, Retrieved 15 October 2015 The building was then used by Lloyds Bank. It was converted into a pub in 1997.[''Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham'', Andy Foster, 2005, p. 119, ] The theatre opened in 2006 with the £350,000 cost being provided by the owners Fuller, Smith & Turner
Fuller, Smith & Turner is a public limited company based in London, England. Its origins lie in John Fuller's Griffin Brewery, which dates from 1816. In 1845, John Fuller's son, John Bird Fuller, was joined by Henry Smith and John Turner to form ...
. The design of the theatre was important and an ex theatre manager was used as a consultant during the construction. This consultant was the first manager of the pub and theatre.[BBC News – The Old Joint Stock Theatre]
accessed 15 October 2015
Description
The theatre seats 95 in a flexible arrangement and is located on the first floor of the pub. The venue hosts mostly theatre performances. It has a resident musical theatre company (The Old Joint Stock Musical Theatre Company aka OJSMTC). The venue programme has also included music, comedy and dance.
The theatre includes full dressing and green room facilities, a box office and a theatre "Gin" bar for interval drinks, as well as a demountable stage and seating that allows each production or hire to inhabit the space to its best potential.
The theatre attracts companies and artists from across the region and nationally including Mrs Barbara Nice, Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter, Jim Jeffries and Tom Allen. The theatre also hosts corporate evenings and offers casino, comedy, wedding receptions etc.
See also
* The Spread Eagle Theatre, the Old Joint Stock Theatre's sister venue in Croydon
References
{{reflist
External links
Official websiteThe Old Joint Stock Theatre – Birmingham Box Office
Theatres in Birmingham, West Midlands
Pub theatres in England