The Lyceum Theatre is an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

theatre in Heath Street,

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

, Cheshire, England. It originated as a converted

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1876. The church was replaced in 1887 by a purpose-built theatre, which burnt down in 1910. The theatre was rebuilt the following year, and was refurbished in 1994. It continues in use as a theatre, as of 2022 it is managed by Trafalgar Theatres. The theatre is constructed in brick, and adjacent to it is a block containing the entrance and offices. Its interior contains decorated

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

History

The theatre stands on the site of a former Roman Catholic Church that had been built to serve Irish immigrants working on the local railway. In 1876 the congregation moved into a larger church in the town. The site was acquired by Thomas Cliffe, a local farmer, and he gave permission for Henry Taylor, a local printer, to convert the church into a theatre. Taylor wanted to have a "proper" theatre on the site and later built the New Lyceum Theatre, which opened on 21 November 1887. It cost £5,000 () and seated 1,250 people. It was re-fitted in 1908 and changed its name to the Opera House. On 11 March 1910 the theatre was destroyed in a fire, and it was decided to rebuild it on the same site. The new theatre was designed by Albert Winstanley, it seated 850, and opened on 6 October 1911. In the early 1930s it was acquired by Terence Byron, who also owned theatres elsewhere in the country. It was bought in 1955 by Crewe Borough Council who formed a management trust in 1964. It operated, with a varying degree of success, as a

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

theatre. During this time actors and actresses who later achieved fame gained experience in the theatre; these included

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...

Richard Beckinsale Richard Arthur Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' (along with its sequel series ''Going Straight'') and Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp''. He is the ...

Judy Loe Judith Margaret Loe (born 6 March 1947) is an English actress. She was married to actor Richard Beckinsale until his death in 1979, and later married director Roy Battersby. She is the mother of actress Kate Beckinsale, and the stepmother of Ka ...

, and

Lynda Bellingham Lynda Bellingham, OBE ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as '' All Creatures Great and Small'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Second Thoughts'' and '' Faith in the Future''. Sh ...

. In 1982 the management of the theatre moved back from the trust to the Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council. The council redecorated the theatre in 1992, and installed new seating, and in 1994 £1.5 million was spent in rebuilding the facilities in the front of the house and remodelling the gallery.

Architecture

The theatre is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, having been designated on 6 July 1976. It is constructed in Accrington-type brick with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. It is three storeys high and has a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d façade, divided into five unequal

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. To its left is a two-storey, four-bay building incorporating the entrance and containing offices. Inside the theatre is an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

with a dress circle, gallery and boxes. The front of these is decorated with

, including

cartouches In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

and reclining figures. There is more plasterwork decoration on the

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

arch and the ceiling rose.

Present day

The theatre arranges a regular programme of plays and shows. There is a restaurant on the premises, and the theatre also arranges exhibitions.

References

External links

{{commons category, Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
Theatre website
Theatres in Cheshire Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Theatres completed in 1911 Buildings and structures in Crewe Grade II listed theatres 1911 establishments in England

History

Architecture

Present day

See also

References

Further reading

External links