Theatre Royal, Lincoln
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The New Theatre Royal Lincoln is a theatre in Lincoln,
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, 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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
. 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 Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
stars and film. In 1954 it became a weekly
repertory theatre A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...
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 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 A receiving house (sometimes called a roadhouse) is a theatre which does not produce its own repertoire but instead receives touring theatre companies, usually for a brief period such as three nights or an entire week. The incoming company may r ...
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. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
’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 and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...
, 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 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
. In 2009, reality TV personality
Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English media personality. She was a contestant on the Big Brother (British TV series) series 3, third series of the Channel 4 reality show ''Big Brother (British TV series) ...
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 titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
visited the theatre as part of the campaign in the May 2011 referendum on the
Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...
(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