Capacity 569 Phone +44 1723 370541 | Opened 30 April 1996 | |
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Owner Scarborough Theatre Development Trust Production Visiting and own productions Address Westborough, Scarborough YO11 1JW, UK Similar Peasholm Park, The Spa - Scarborough, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, North Bay Railway, Rotunda Museum Profiles | ||
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The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain.
In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on the first floor of the Public Library.
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 local Odeon cinema by Rank Leisure that the theatre's long-standing Artistic Director, Alan Ayckbourn, found a suitable venue.
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, and The 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 of Richard Hawley's album Coles Corner was taken.