Theatre Royal, Norwich facts for kids
Façade of the Theatre Royal (Theatre St)
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| Address | Theatre St, Norwich, Norfolk Norwich United Kingdom |
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| Type | Theatre |
| Capacity | Main: 1,308 Peter Wilson Studio: 200 |
| Production | Visiting productions | Receiving theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1758 |
| Rebuilt | 1801 and 1935 |
| Architect | Tim Foster Architects |
| Website | |
| https://norwichtheatre.org/ | |
The Theatre Royal is an art-deco theatre in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It celebrated its 250th anniversary on the 31st of January 2008 and is one of the country's oldest established theatres. Many well known acts have played here over the years, including Debbie McGee, Ching Lau Lauro, William Charles Macready, Charles Kean , Tom Thumb and his spouse (Mr and Mrs Stratton), Paganini, Donald Sinden, Bernard Cribbins and The Bolshoi Ballet.
It hosts a large range of touring productions. The theatre had a £10m refurbishment in 2007, designed by Tim Foster Architects.
In 2015, plans were launched for the new £15m Stage Two building under the direction of the then CEO Peter Wilson MBE. The new building was to house one of europe's most technically advanced arts education facilities, and a new 200 seat auditorium.
In 2016, it was announced that Peter was to depart the Theatre Royal, after 25 years at the helm. It was later announced that the new auditorium would be named the Peter Wilson Studio.
In mid 2016, Stephen Crocker, a former deputy CEO of The Lowry theatre was announced as the new Chief Executive.
In 2019, Norwich Theatre Royal was rebranded to become the Norwich Theatre group alongside Norwich Playhouse.
Shows
A traditional family pantomime is produced in-house annually for the Christmas season each year. In addition, it regularly attracts a host of touring theatre productions.
History
The second Theatre Royal (previous to the building pictured) was built in 1826. The popular magician Ching Lau Lauro received his only bad review there, from the Norfolk Chronicle, in 1828.
