The New Theatre Royal Lincoln is a theatre in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. The present theatre, initially called the ''New Theatre Royal'', was built in 1893 to the designs of Bertie Crewe and W.G.R. Sprague. After an explosion and fire in 1892 had destroyed the previous ''Theatre Royal'' on the site, built in 1806. The 1806 theatre was, in turn, a rebuild of an earlier theatre of 1764 on Butchery Street, now called Clasketgate. The structure of the building remained the same until 1907, when the present frontage, foyer, and lounge were added,"New Theatre Royal Lincoln"
''lincsprt.com''; retrieved 5 April 2011 spinning the orientation of the entrance to face Clasketgate. A 2010 refurbishment of public non-auditorium space restructured and modernised the foyer and bar areas. The building is Grade II listed. The New Theatre Royal Lincoln was renamed to the Theatre Royal Lincoln and then later changed back the New Theatre Royal Lincoln in 2016 when the theatre was taken over and refurbished after the previous management folded. From 1893 to 1954 the theatre was run by a succession of leaseholders and managersTheatres Database
''The Theatres Trust'': Theatre Royal Lincoln; retrieved 5 April 2011 presenting popular plays, musicals, music hall stars and film. In 1954 it became a weekly repertory theatre under the ''Lincoln Theatre Association'' until bankruptcy in 1976, after which it was taken over by ''Paul Elliot Entertainments'' in association with Chris Moreno. Under Elliot it became a

producing house A producing house is a theatre which ‘manufactures' its own shows in-house (such as plays, musicals, opera, or dance) and perhaps does everything from honing the script, building the set, casting the actors and designing and making the costum ...

for its own shows, and a design and production facility for various UK theatre pantomimes, national tours and cruise-ship shows, and a continuing venue for amateur dramatic companies. Chris Moreno became sole manager and lessee in 1993. In 2009 the local authority, Lincoln City Council, withdrew its ongoing subsidy which led to a threat of closure, and to scrutiny of how council funding had been used. Bids from amateur dramatic, church and community groups, and local entertainment businesses to take-over the theatre's lease were unsuccessful. The theatre survived and was taken over by ''ID Productions'', using it as a base for its touring shows. Theatre Royal's professional theatre offer is now largely as a receiving house for UK theatre tours and musical acts. During the Second World War, The Theatre Royal was popular with RAF personnel within the county, particularly

Guy Gibson Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam ...

. Sir

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...

’s debut as a professional actor, as Morgan in ''Treasure Island'', was at the Theatre Royal. During September 2002, author and former politician

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

, while serving part of his gaol sentence at North Sea Camp prison, worked backstage at the theatre. In November and December 2003, ''Theatre of Dreams'', a series of four fly-on-the-wall documentaries built around profiles of four employees at the Theatre Royal, was aired on BBC2. In 2009, reality TV personality

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English television personality. She came to public prominence in 2002 when she appeared on the third series of the Channel 4 reality show '' Big Brother''. She went on to s ...

played the 'Wicked Witch' in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', but had to pull out through illness. On 18 March 2011,

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

visited the theatre as part of the campaign in the May 2011 referendum on the

Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of Ranked voting, ranked preferential Electoral system, voting method. It uses a Majority rule, majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referr ...

(AV) system in UK parliamentary elections."Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke visits city to campaign against the Alternative Vote"
''Lincolnshire Echo - this is Lincolnshire'', 19 March 2011; retrieved 5 April 2011

References

External links

Theatres Database
''The Theatres Trust'': Theatre Royal (Lincoln); retrieved 5 April 2011
"Theatre Royal closure threat"
''BBC'' video 2 Oct. 2008, (requires Adobe Flash Player 10.2.153.1 or later); retrieved 5 April 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:New Theatre Royal, Lincoln Theatres in Lincolnshire