I went looking for pictures of the Library Theatre but so far have come up with just two.
Now given that the company performed in the basement of Central Ref from 1952 I would have thought I would have found more.
It was a theatre I enjoyed going to.
Unlike the Royal Exchange which was stunning and the Opera House where you could suffer from vertigo if you went cheap, the Library Theatre was small and intimate and quite special.
So while it was a traditional theatre you were never far from the actors and the action and that counted for a lot.
During the 40 years I went there you never quite forgot that this was a municipal enterprise.
It was built in 1934 as a lecture theatre and became the home of the Library Theatre which was run by the Libraries Committee from 1952.
I have a vague memory that during the interval in the early 70s they played a light show on to the safety curtain using what I think was a variation of a larva lamp.
Now I might be wrong on that but the place was distinctively different from your run of the mill commercial theatres.
It started with its location in the Ref which meant that your first introduction to the theatre was entering the library past those impressive columns and moving through the Shakespeare Hall and down that sweep of stairs.
And on a slow night in the large Social Sciences Room when the studying was not going well we sometimes drifted down to see if there were seats available.
Usually we were successful and would sit in the cafe area as the last of the students departed to be replaced by the theatre set.
And now it has gone but having said that has not travelled far for in conjunction with the Corner House it will reopen at Home on First Street.
This looks an exciting new place and all credit to the City Council for helping push the project through with the same vision that saw them build Central Ref eighty one years ago and create the Library Theatre in 1952.
And that in turn made me thing of the Public Hall here in Chorlton in what was the Conservative Club on Wilbraham Road.
This too was a bold stroke and offered a venue for everything from amateur dramatics to political speakers and campaigns which in some cases ran contrary to the political views of the Con Club. Victor Grayson Socialist MP for Colne Valley spoke in the hall in 1908 and was heckled by members of the public, some I suspect who had made their way up from the Club below.
A number of drama groups also performed here along with a young John Thaw.*
“The architects were Darbyshire and Smith, who very well known especially for building theatres including the Palace in Manchester) and pubs like the Marble Arch on Rochdale Road. The front entrance went into the Conservative Club and a side entrance on Manchester Road went upstairs to the Public Hall which had a stage."
Pictures; The Home May 2015 from the collection of Mike Lever, the lecture Theatre, Central Ref, 1934, Kemsley Studios, m81032, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and the Conservative Club and Public Hall, Chorlton 1908 from the Lloyd Collection
* John Thaw, 1942 –2002) was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being television series such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Home to Roost, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.
** from Lawrence Beedle, http://hardylane.blogspot.co.uk/
 |
| Home, May 2015 |
It was a theatre I enjoyed going to.
Unlike the Royal Exchange which was stunning and the Opera House where you could suffer from vertigo if you went cheap, the Library Theatre was small and intimate and quite special.
So while it was a traditional theatre you were never far from the actors and the action and that counted for a lot.
It was built in 1934 as a lecture theatre and became the home of the Library Theatre which was run by the Libraries Committee from 1952.
 |
| The Lecture Theatre, 1934 |
Now I might be wrong on that but the place was distinctively different from your run of the mill commercial theatres.
It started with its location in the Ref which meant that your first introduction to the theatre was entering the library past those impressive columns and moving through the Shakespeare Hall and down that sweep of stairs.
And on a slow night in the large Social Sciences Room when the studying was not going well we sometimes drifted down to see if there were seats available.
 |
| First Street, May 2015 |
And now it has gone but having said that has not travelled far for in conjunction with the Corner House it will reopen at Home on First Street.
This looks an exciting new place and all credit to the City Council for helping push the project through with the same vision that saw them build Central Ref eighty one years ago and create the Library Theatre in 1952.
 |
| The Conservative Club and Public Hall, 1908 |
This too was a bold stroke and offered a venue for everything from amateur dramatics to political speakers and campaigns which in some cases ran contrary to the political views of the Con Club. Victor Grayson Socialist MP for Colne Valley spoke in the hall in 1908 and was heckled by members of the public, some I suspect who had made their way up from the Club below.
A number of drama groups also performed here along with a young John Thaw.*
“The architects were Darbyshire and Smith, who very well known especially for building theatres including the Palace in Manchester) and pubs like the Marble Arch on Rochdale Road. The front entrance went into the Conservative Club and a side entrance on Manchester Road went upstairs to the Public Hall which had a stage."
Pictures; The Home May 2015 from the collection of Mike Lever, the lecture Theatre, Central Ref, 1934, Kemsley Studios, m81032, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and the Conservative Club and Public Hall, Chorlton 1908 from the Lloyd Collection
* John Thaw, 1942 –2002) was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being television series such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Home to Roost, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.
** from Lawrence Beedle, http://hardylane.blogspot.co.uk/
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