Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Replacing a former repertory theatre in North Street which had been gutted by a fire in 1963, the present complex was opened in 1965 in a riverside site, incorporating a restaurant and bar available to non-theatregoers. Sir Michael Redgrave had ceremonially driven the first pile in October 1962. The foundation stone was laid by Vanessa Redgrave in September 1963, who commemorated the occasion by casting her foot in concrete. Susan Hampshire "topped out" the roof of the theatre on 11 November 1964. The company opted to dispense with traditional repertory theatre in favour of a more flexible model in which actors are cast as appropriate to different productions. Many stars have performed at…

The theatre was designed to be as adaptable as possible to allow for the staging of every kind of performance. There is no proscenium arch allowing the full width of the stage to be utilised if wanted. The stage itself is 95 ft from wing to wing and 33 ft deep. it has a fly tower and a permanent curved cyclorama that is 60 ft wide. The stage has a 25 ft diameter revolve. A removable apron stage section allows for an orchestra pit for 22 musicians or an extra two rows of seats as required. When built the maximum seating capacity was 574.

The theatre was opened on 2 June 1965 with Dirk Bogarde speaking a prologue written for the occasion. The first play was A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev with Ingrid Bergman in the leading role. It was followed by Milton's Samson Agonistes and Dibdin's Lionel and Clarissa. The festival programme was devised by Michael Redgrave.