By Dawn Smallwood
West Yorkshire Playhouse’s history began 50 years ago on the 5th May 1968 when it was proposed for Leeds to have its own Playhouse. This was heard at a public meeting, held at the Town Hall, following a successful four year campaign lead by Doreen Newlyn and supported by Peter O’Toole (Hollywood legend), Keith Waterhouse and John Neville (then Nottingham Playhouse’s artistic director). They determinedly argued that “a city without a theatre is a city without a heart” (Source: West Yorkshire Playhouse) and their claim is very true today as West Yorkshire Playhouse prides itself as being heart of the city.
The packed public meeting on that day obviously was a sign for good things to come and the quest for a Playhouse became a reality. Funding was secured from the public and Leeds City Council towards the development. The development was in receipt of further funding, the construction began a year later, and the Leeds Playhouse opened its doors in 1970 on the University of Leeds site. The Playhouse housed productions there for 20 years until it moved to its current site at Quarry Hill in 1990.
The spirit shared by Newlyn and James Brining (West Yorkshire Playhouse’s Artistic Director) remains strongly the same. The Playhouse’s spirit and aims are to engage widely with the community and make theatre accessible to everyone in the City of Leeds. This is evident with their critically acclaimed and award winning development and engagement programmes and world class theatre productions year after year. They always offer a wide variety of productions from big scale musicals to new home grown talent.
With the success and ethos it is felt the West Yorkshire Playhouse is ready for their forthcoming major redevelopment project which is starting in July 2018 after Searching for the Heart of Leeds, such a fitting production to mark the Playhouse’s next chapter. The current building will be transformed and modernised with an addition of Bramall Rock Void,
a new studio theatre space, and the development will be funded by Leeds City Council, Arts Council and the Playhouse itself. The West Yorkshire Playhouse and SOYO will provide a temporary 350 seat theatre on site for the Autumn 2018/Spring 2019 programme.
Exciting times ahead and no doubt more special milestones will be celebrated in the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s present and future journey.