 Stephen Joseph Theatre | |
 Interactive map of Stephen Joseph Theatre | |
| Address | Westborough Scarborough,North Yorkshire England |
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| Coordinates | 54°16′50″N0°24′21″W / 54.280556°N 0.405833°W /54.280556; -0.405833 |
| Owner | Scarborough Theatre Development Trust |
| Capacity | 404-seat (main house) 165-seat (studio/cinema) |
| Production | Visiting and own productions |
| Opened | 30 April 1996 |
| Website | |
| www.sjt.uk.com | |
TheStephen Joseph Theatre is atheatre in the round inScarborough,North Yorkshire,England that was founded byStephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain.
In 1955, Joseph established a tinytheatre in the round on the first floor ofScarborough Library.[1]
The theatre flourished and in 1976 moved to a supposedly temporary home on the ground floor of the former Scarborough Boys' High School.
However, a permanent home proved difficult to find and it was not until late 1988 and the closure of the localOdeon cinema byRank Leisure that the theatre's long-standing Artistic Director,Alan Ayckbourn, found a suitable venue. Ayckbourn launched a £4 million appeal to transform the old cinema with a view to opening it up in 1995.[2]
The new theatre, known simply as the Stephen Joseph Theatre, opened in 1996 and comprises two auditoria:The Round, a 404-seat theatre in the round, andThe McCarthy, a 165-seat end-on stage/cinema. The building also contains a restaurant, shop, and full front-of-house and backstage facilities.
The Round boasts two important technical innovations: the stage lift, facilitating speedy set changes, and the trampoline, a Canadian invention which allows technicians particularly easy access to the lighting grid.
It is also the place where the image used for the cover ofRichard Hawley's albumColes Corner was taken.
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