Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre: 1968

This page contains a more detailed guide to significant events concerning Scarborough's Theatre in the Round at the Library in 1968.

1968

  • 4 January: Scarborough Theatre Trust is told the cost of purchasing the Claremont building would be £22,000; board member Tom Laughton having suggested the former print-works as a possible new home for the company. An appeals committee is launched which notes the fund currently stands at £51 and 6 shillings with an offer off proceeds from a charity West End performance of an Ayckbourn play, £1,600 royalties from Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking, an 'anonymous' promise of £1,000 from the actress Margaret Rawlings and an offer of £500 from the William Elmhurst foundation. By March this fund had risen to £7,298.
  • February: An appeal is launched to raise funds for a new home for the company - at that time advertised as the Claremont building.
  • George Alderson - a Scarborough architect - is appointed as architect for the proposed new home of the company with Percy Corry of the Association of British Theatre Technicians (an organisation co-founded by Stephen Joseph) serving as theatre consultant.
  • Rodney Wood is appointed (unpaid) Director of Productions at the Library Theatre for a second year.
  • The 14 week summer season is reported to be the longest single season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre since it opened in 1955.
  • 24 June: The summer season opens with the only new play of the season, David Bramley's A Boat In The Backyard.
  • The company for the season includes the actor Tom Baker in one his first professional stage seasons; he will go on in 1974 to international fame as the star of the BBC television series Doctor Who.
  • 19 August: Following a detailed assessment of the Claremont building by Percy Corry, Scarborough Theatre Trust is advised not to purchase the building due to its unsuitability for conversion and cost of purchase / conversion. The Trust immediately drops contract negotiations with the owner of the premises.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.