Leeds Playhouse

The origins of Leeds Playhouse lie in the Leeds Playgoers' Society, founded in 1907 as an off-shoot of the Leeds Arts Club, to stage contemporary drama by writers such as Shaw, Ibsen and Chekhov, and hold lectures and discussions on contemporary drama. The idea of creating a Leeds Playhouse dates from 1964, when a campaign was started for a permanent home for modern and contemporary theatre in Leeds. Despite some opposition from the local council on the grounds that Leeds already had a theatre (the Grand Theatre), a public appeal was launched to raise funds at a mass meeting in Leeds Town Hall on 5 May 1968. The meeting was addressed by Peter O'Toole, Keith Waterhouse, and the actor and…

Leeds Playhouse was designed by The Appleton Partnership architects of Edinburgh. The complex comprises: The Quarry Theatre (750 seats), The Courtyard Theatre (350 seats), a CAMRA award-winning bar, a restaurant, the Newlyn Gallery, two function rooms (the Congreve Room and the Priestley Room), three rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, extensive technical workshops, dressing rooms, a costume hire department and offices for production, administrative and artistic teams. The foundation stone was laid by Judi Dench in 1989, and on completion it was opened by Diana Rigg. The theatre was completed at a cost of £13 million. The building underwent a £16.8 million redevelopment in 2019: creating…