66-591: Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds , West Yorkshire , England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse , successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 to revert to the title "Leeds Playhouse". It has two auditoria and a studio space, hosts a wide range of productions, and engages in outreach work in
132-613: 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
198-564: A darkened theater, sound effects, and seating arrangements (lowering the orchestra pit ) which focused the attention of audience on the stage, completely immersing them in the imaginary world of the music drama. These concepts were revolutionary at the time, but they have since come to be taken for granted in the modern operatic environment as well as many other types of theatrical endeavors. Contemporary theaters are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces, or theaters where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of this
264-550: A daughter – the poet and playwright Caroline Bird (born 1986) – and two sons, one of whom died young. She married their father, the actor, writer and director Michael Bird (stage name Birch) in 1993. In 2006, Kelly was named number 8 in "Theatreland's top 100 players" by The Independent newspaper. Kelly has represented Britain within UNESCO on cultural matters, served on the Arts Advisory Committee for
330-448: A hanamichi stage with her entourage. The stage is used not only as a walkway or path to get to and from the main stage, but important scenes are also played on the stage. Kabuki stages and theaters have steadily become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations including revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century. A driving force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of kabuki theater, that of
396-425: A high-ceilinged interior. Within the large temple has a stage inside which is a large platform with its own pyramid roof. The stage area is separate from the audience area with the musician (a drummer on a high seat) behind the stage, and dressing rooms also at the rear with exit doors behind. The audience would be seated on a smooth, polished floor. Several Koothambalams exist within several Indian temples, and follow
462-546: A naturally occurring site. The auditorium (literally "place for hearing" in Latin) was the area in which people gathered, and was sometimes constructed on a small hill or slope in which stacked seating could be easily made in the tradition of the Greek Theatres. The central part of the auditorium was hollowed out of a hill or slope, while the outer radian seats required structural support and solid retaining walls. This
528-438: A number of one-week or shorter runs which may be by visiting companies. A typical recent season (Autumn-Winter 2007) included: Casanova by Carol Ann Duffy and Told By An Idiot , with Lyric Hammersmith ; a stage adaptation of Don Quixote ; Brief Encounter with Kneehigh Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre ; Rough Crossings adapted by Caryl Phillips from Simon Schama 's book; Salonika , first performed at
594-417: A production, often called a black box theater , due to the common practice of the walls being painted black and hung with black drapes. Usually in a building used specifically for performance there are offstage spaces used by the performers and crew. This is where props , sets , and scenery are stored, and the performers standby before their entrance. These offstage spaces are called wings on either side of
660-439: A proscenium stage. A prompter's box may be found backstage. In an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses. Often a theater will incorporate other spaces intended for the performers and other personnel. A booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view
726-531: A small number of single honours degree courses available at the time. Kelly graduated with a BA in Drama and Theatre Arts from Birmingham in 1975 where she was a contemporary of comedian, writer and actress Victoria Wood . Kelly founded Solent People's Theatre, a touring company, in 1976, and was artistic director of the Battersea Arts Centre from 1980 to 1985. She became the founding director of
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#1732772270087792-448: A theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral -like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters . A thrust stage as well as an arena stage are just a few more examples of the multitude of stages where plays can occur. A theatre used for opera performances is called an opera house . A theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theater or street theater ), this article
858-427: A tradition called "stage dooring" that some fans participate in, in which fans wait outside of the stage door after the show in hopes of getting an autograph from the actors. The acting or performance space is the stage. In some theaters, such as proscenium theaters , arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area is permanent part of the structure. In some theaters the stage area can be changed and adapted specifically to
924-456: A transposition, the recurrence of the pediment with the later solidified stone scene. In front of the skene there may have been a raised acting area called the proskenion , the ancestor of the modern proscenium stage. It is believed that the actors (as opposed to the chorus) acted entirely on the proskenion , but this is not certain. Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The audience sat on tiers of benches built up on
990-490: A vertical dimension. The Indian Koothambalam temple is a space used to perform Sanskrit drama . Called the koothambalam or kuttampalam, it is a large high-caste rectangular, temple in Kerala which represented a “visual sacrifice” to any deities or gods of the temple. They were built for kutiyattam or “combined acting” performances, which only two dramas are performed today. The temple has a pyramidal roof, with high walls, and
1056-589: Is a structure where theatrical works, performing arts , and musical concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually is organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members, as well as the stage where the performance takes place. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as
1122-405: Is about structures used specifically for performance. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area (in most theaters this is known as the stage ), while some theaters, such as black box theaters have movable seating allowing the production to create a performance area suitable for the production. A theater building or structure contains spaces for an event or performance to take place, usually called
1188-472: Is associated with the performers and their actions. The stage is made entirely of unfinished hinoki , a Japanese cypress, with almost no decorative elements. The poet and novelist Toson Shimazaki writes that "on the stage of the Noh theater there are no sets that change with each piece. Neither is there a curtain. There is only a simple panel ( kagami-ita ) with a painting of a green pine tree . This creates
1254-404: Is considered symbolic and treated with reverence both by the performers and the audience. The stage includes a large square platform, devoid of walls or curtains on three sides, and traditionally with a painting of a pine tree at the back. The platform is elevated above the place where the audience sits, which is covered in white gravel soil. The four stage corners are marked by cedar pillars, and
1320-469: Is next to the theatre, which was a partner in the development of the work, which commemorates women of Leeds. According to the Leeds Playhouse website it has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as one of Britain's most exciting producing theatres, winning awards for everything from its productions to its customer service, and it is "the largest regional repertory theatre in
1386-679: Is the modular theater, notably the Walt Disney Modular Theater . This large theater has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor sections on adjustable pneumatric piston, so that the space may be adjusted into any configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theater performance have evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting . Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium , thrust , black box theater , theater in
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#17327722700871452-996: The Arts Council and the Gulbenkian Foundation , meant that the project could go ahead and the Leeds Playhouse opened in 1970 in premises loaned to the Leeds Theatre Trust by the University of Leeds . The first performance was held on Wednesday 16 September 1970 with Tony Robinson , who later went on to play Baldrick in the television series Blackadder , starring as Simon in Alan Plater 's play Simon Says , directed by Bill Hays. The following month Robinson also appeared in The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare , where he played Abraham Slender. The Leeds Playhouse turned into
1518-536: The Edinburgh Fringe has seen performances in an taxi . The traditional stage used in Noh theater is based on a Chinese pattern. It is completely open, providing a shared experience between the performers and the audience throughout the play. Without any prosceniums or curtains to obstruct the view, the audience sees each actor at moments even before entering the primary platform of the stage. The theater itself
1584-529: The Elizabethan era in England , theaters were constructed of wooden framing, infilled with wattle and daub and roofed with thatch . Mostly the theaters were entirely open air. They consisted of several floors of covered galleries surrounding a courtyard which was open to the elements. A large portion of the audience would stand in the yard, directly in front of the stage. This layout is said to derive from
1650-759: The English National Opera (ENO), the Châtelet in Paris, France , and London's West End . Kelly left the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2002 to found Metal Culture, providing artistic laboratory spaces in Liverpool, Peterborough and Southend , funded by Arts Council England and local authorities. Metal provides a platform where creative hunches and ideas can be pursued; it promotes cross-art collaborations and projects to affect
1716-579: The Royal Court Theatre in 1982. There were 6 plays with shorter runs, a visiting production by Northern Ballet Theatre , and two Christmas shows, one for small children and a revived co-production with Birmingham Repertory Company of Adrian Mitchell 's dramatisation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . Tony Harrison 's satyr play The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus was performed at
1782-713: The Royal Society of Arts , and jointly chaired with Lord Puttnam the Curricula Advisory Committee on Arts and Creativity. She is chair of Metal, a member of the London Cultural Consortium, and a member of the Dishaa Advisory Group. She previously sat on the board of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) when it ran the government's flagship creative learning programme, Creative Partnerships , funded by
1848-674: The West Yorkshire Playhouse from 1990 to 2002, where as artistic director and then CEO she established it as an acknowledged centre for excellence. As the artistic director, she sat on the National Advisory Committee for Culture, Creativity and Education (NACCCE), led by Ken Robinson , that in 1999 wrote the All Our Futures report, which led to significant government investment in young people's creative and cultural education. She has directed more than 100 productions, including for Chichester Festival Theatre ,
1914-432: The orchestra was a large rectangular building called the skene (meaning "tent" or "hut"). [1] It was used as a "backstage" area where actors could change their costumes and masks, but also served to represent the location of the plays, which were usually set in front of a palace or house. Typically, there were two or three doors in the skene that led out onto orchestra, and from which actors could enter and exit. At first,
1980-462: The orchestra , the skene , and the audience. The centerpiece of the theater was the orchestra , or "dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area. The orchestra was the site of the choral performances, the religious rites, and, possibly, the acting. An altar was located in the middle of the orchestra; in Athens, the altar was dedicated to Dionysus , the god of wine and the theater. Behind
2046-508: The skene was literally a tent or hut, put up for the religious festival and taken down when it was finished. Later, the skene became a permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops, hence the English word scenery . A temple nearby, especially on the right side of the scene, is almost always part of the Greek theater complex, which could justify, as
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2112-400: The stage , and also spaces for the audience, theater staff, performers and crew before and after the event. There are usually two main entrances of a theater building. One is at the front, used by the audience, and leads into a foyer and ticketing. The second is called the stage door, and it is accessible from backstage. This is where the cast and crew enter and exit the theater, and there is
2178-819: The English National Opera in The Elixir of Love (South Bank Award – Newcomer Opera) and On the Town , which was the ENO's most successful production at the time, Carmen Jones , and The Wizard of Oz at the refurbished Royal Festival Hall . Kelly directed Paco Peña 's Flamenco sin Fronteras in 2009. In 2006, she became Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in central London, Britain's largest cultural institution. The Centre consists of
2244-670: The Royal Festival Hall was described by one critic as a "wasted opportunity". Kelly's talk at a 2016 TED conference, Why women should tell the stories of humanity , has been viewed more than 1.1 million times as of July 2018 . In 2010, she founded the Women of the World Festival ( WOW ), first held in the Southbank Centre, which celebrates the achievements of women and girls as well as looking at
2310-934: The Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery , Queen Elizabeth Hall (containing the Purcell Room ), and the Saison Poetry Library . Southbank Centre also manages the Arts Council Collection and organises the National Touring Exhibitions programme in venues throughout the UK. Kelly's decision to step down as artistic director after 12 years, in order to devote herself to WOW, was announced in January 2018. Her 2018 production of Leonard Bernstein 's MASS at
2376-528: The UK government in the preceding ten years, in 2013, she claimed that no action had been taken by the state relating to young people's cultural education since the 1999 NACCCE report or the Henley Review in 2012. She is visiting professor at Kingston University , Leeds University and at Shanghai Performing Arts School. In October 2012, Kelly was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of her services to music. In February 2013 she
2442-619: The UK outside London and Stratford". The theatre's first artistic director was Jude Kelly (1990–2002). Her successor was Ian Brown who ran the theatre until passing the baton to James Brining in the autumn of 2012. Productions cover a wide range from classic drama to modern European theatre and children's shows. There is an emphasis on new writing, especially from the north of England. There are many coproductions with other regional theatres, some of which go on to tour or transfer to London theatres. Visiting companies include Northern Broadsides , Kneehigh Theatre and Peepolykus . The theatre
2508-613: The West Yorkshire Playhouse in March 1990 when it relocated to the Quarry Hill area of the city as part of a major regeneration scheme. In June 2018, it rebranded as Leeds Playhouse once again in response to the development and growth of Leeds City region and also Leeds City Council's longstanding support for the theatre in Leeds. Leeds Playhouse was designed by The Appleton Partnership architects of Edinburgh. The complex comprises: The Quarry Theatre (750 seats), The Courtyard Theatre (350 seats),
2574-498: The arrangement we see most frequently today, with a stage separated from the audience by a proscenium arch. This coincided with a growing interest in scenic elements painted in perspective, such as those created by Inigo Jones , Nicola Sabbatini and the Galli da Bibiena family . The perspective of these elements could only be viewed properly from the center back of the auditorium, in the so-called "duke's chair." The higher one's status,
2640-957: The built environment, people, communities and philosophies. Among her many successes as a director, Kelly's production of Singin' in the Rain transferred to the Royal National Theatre as one of the National's visiting productions and was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production in 2001. She directed Sir Ian McKellen in The Seagull and The Tempest , Patrick Stewart in Johnson Over Jordan and Othello , Dawn French in When We Are Married , and
2706-417: The city of London. Around this time, the green room , a place for actors to wait until required on stage, became common terminology in English theaters. The Globe has now been rebuilt as a fully working and producing theater near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker ) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of
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2772-611: The closer they would be seated to this vantage point, and the more the accurately they would be able to see the perspective elements. The first enclosed theaters were court theaters, open only to the sovereigns and the nobility. The first opera house open to the public was the Teatro San Cassiano (1637) in Venice. The Italian opera houses were the model for the subsequent theaters throughout Europe. Richard Wagner placed great importance on "mood setting" elements, such as
2838-487: The festival for which they were erected concluded. This practice was due to a moratorium on permanent theatre structures that lasted until 55 BC when the Theatre of Pompey was built with the addition of a temple to avoid the law. Some Roman theatres show signs of never having been completed in the first place. Inside Rome, few theatres have survived the centuries following their construction, providing little evidence about
2904-651: The government with £40m per year by the education and cultural departments, working in one in five schools in England, reaching more than 1 million young people over 10 years. She is Chair of the Trustees for World Book Night and was on the Cultural Olympiad Board that was responsible for delivering the creative, cultural and educational aspects of London's Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Despite her involvement in these significant investments by
2970-419: The impression that anything that could provide any shading has been banished. To break such monotony and make something happen is no easy thing." Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari , a narrow bridge at upstage right used by actors to enter the stage. Hashigakari means "suspension bridge", signifying something aerial that connects two separate worlds on a same level. The bridge symbolizes
3036-592: The local community. 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
3102-687: 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 joint artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse , John Neville , amongst others. £20,000 was raised by public subscription, but the project still needed support from Leeds City Council. The Council eventually promised £25,000, and £5,000 annually if necessary. This, along with grants from
3168-535: The mythic nature of Noh plays in which otherworldly ghosts and spirits frequently appear. In contrast, hanamichi in Kabuki theaters is literally a path ( michi ) that connects two spaces in a single world, thus has a completely different significance. The Japanese kabuki stage features a projection called a hanamichi (花道; literally, flower path), a walkway which extends into the audience and via which dramatic entrances and exits are made. Okuni also performed on
3234-431: The neighbours' children: "I've always had a passion for telling a story," she has said. She attended Calder High School for Girls until she was 13, when it became part of Quarry Bank Comprehensive School , where she was taught by John Lennon 's old headmaster, William Pobjoy, who encouraged his pupils to be creative. Already determined to become a director, she chose to study drama at The University of Birmingham , one of
3300-476: The obstacles they face, and which is now an annual international event. In 2014, she founded the Being a Man Festival ( BAM ), also held in the Southbank Centre, a UK-based festival that addresses the challenges and pressures of masculine identity in the 21st century. Alongside Olga Miler Christen, Kelly founded Smartpurse Limited in 2019 in order to provide financial advice and education to women. Kelly has
3366-809: The period were writing. During the Renaissance , the first modern enclosed theaters were constructed in Italy. Their structure was similar to that of ancient theaters, with a cavea and an architectural scenery, representing a city street. The oldest surviving examples of this style are the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1580) and the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta (1590). At the beginning of 17th century theaters had moved indoors and began to resemble
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#17327722700873432-513: The practice of holding plays in the yard of an inn. Archaeological excavations of The Rose theater at London's Bankside , built 1587, have shown that it had en external diameter of 72 feet (22 metres). The nearby Globe Theatre (1599) was larger, at 100 feet (30 metres). Other evidence for the round shape is a line in Shakespeare's Henry V which calls the building "this wooden O ", and several rough woodcut illustrations of
3498-459: The round , amphitheater , and arena . In the classical Indian dance , Natya Shastra defines three stage types. In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is called a theatrette . The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue. Theatrical performances can also take place in venues adapted from other purposes, such as train carriages. For instance, in recent years
3564-701: The same rectangular plan and structure. Jude Kelly Judith " Jude " Pamela Kelly , CBE (born March 1954), is a British theatre director and producer. She is a director of the WOW Foundation, which organises the annual Women of the World Festival , founded in 2010 by Kelly. From 2006 to 2018, she was Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London. Jude Kelly was born in Liverpool , and her love of theatre dates back to her childhood there, where she would put on plays in her backyard with
3630-418: The show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets, props and costumes , as well as storage. All theaters provide a space for an audience. In a fixed seating theatre the audience is often separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters , the proscenium arch, like
3696-473: The side of a hill. Greek theaters, then, could only be built on hills that were correctly shaped. A typical theater was enormous, able to seat around 15,000 viewers. Greek theaters were not enclosed; the audience could see each other and the surrounding countryside as well as the actors and chorus. The Romans copied the Greek style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for
3762-435: The specific theatres. Arausio , the theatre in modern-day Orange, France , is a good example of a classic Roman theatre, with an indented scaenae frons , reminiscent of Western Roman theatre designs, however missing the more ornamental structure. The Arausio is still standing today and, with its amazing structural acoustics and having had its seating reconstructed, can be seen to be a marvel of Roman architecture. During
3828-536: The stage, is a permanent feature of the structure. This area is known as the auditorium or the house. The seating areas can include some or all of the following: Greek theater buildings were called a theatron ('seeing place'). The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. The most famous open-air greek theater was the Globe Theater where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. They consisted of three principal elements:
3894-459: The sudden, dramatic revelation or transformation. A number of stage tricks, including actors' rapid appearance and disappearance, employ these innovations. The term keren (外連), often translated playing to the gallery , is sometimes used as a catch-all for these tricks. Hanamichi and several innovations including revolving stage, seri and chunori have all contributed to kabuki play. Hanamichi creates depth and both seri and chunori provide
3960-510: The theatre in 1998. The playhouse has a strong record of supporting new writers, like Zodwa Nyoni , whose first play Boi Boi Is Dead they commissioned. The theatre receives funding from Arts Council England (£1,500,000) and Leeds City Council (£670,000). It also encourages corporate sponsorship. The theatre is a member of the European Theatre Convention . Theater (structure) A theater , or playhouse ,
4026-442: The whole is topped by a roof, even when the Noh stage is erected indoors. A ceramic jar system under the stage amplifies the sounds of dancing during the performance. There is a small door to permit entry of the musicians and vocalists. The independent roof is one of the most recognizable characteristic of the Noh stage. Supported by four columns, the roof symbolizes the sanctity of the stage, with its architectural design derived from
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#17327722700874092-447: The worship pavilion ( haiden ) or sacred dance pavilion ( kaguraden ) of Shinto shrines. The roof also unifies the theater space and defines the stage as an architectural entity. The pillars supporting the roof are named shitebashira (principal character's pillar), metsukebashira (gazing pillar), wakibashira (secondary character's pillar), and fuebashira (flute pillar), clockwise from upstage right respectively. Each pillar
4158-657: Was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 , and also recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women. Already Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to the arts. In September 2018, to mark Time Out magazine's 50th anniversary, she
4224-574: Was completed at a cost of £13 million. The building underwent a £16.8 million redevelopment in 2019: creating a new foyer, improving access throughout the building, moving the front of the building to face the city and creating the Bramall Rock Void studio space (130 seats). The playhouse has a large neon sculpture on its exterior which spells out the lyric from the song " Tubthumping " by Chumbawamba : "I get knocked down but I get up again". The sculpture Ribbons by artist Pippa Hale
4290-405: Was home to the original version of the musical Spend Spend Spend , the story of the life of Viv Nicholson, the 1961 famous Pools winner and author of the book of the same name. The original, starring Rosemary Ashe appeared at the Playhouse before it went on to West End success starring Barbara Dickson. A typical season includes four or five major productions which run for three or four weeks, and
4356-407: Was of course not always the case as Romans tended to build their theatres regardless of the availability of hillsides. All theatres built within the city of Rome were completely man-made without the use of earthworks. The auditorium was not roofed; rather, awnings ( vela ) could be pulled overhead to provide shelter from rain or sunlight. Some Roman theatres, constructed of wood, were torn down after
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