Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre: Touring

Touring from Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre began in 1958 under the auspices of Studio Theatre Ltd - the company which ran Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.

Although Studio Theatre Ltd was based in Scarborough during the summer and - from 1958 - the winter months, touring was an essential part of the company's activities between 1958 and 1962. The tours visited towns without civic theatres in the hope of attracting interest in building a permanent theatre and home for Studio Theatre Ltd as well as promoting theatre-in-the-round and new writing.

Studio Theatre Ltd's first tour was unusual as Stephen Joseph organised a one-off touring production of Racine's Phèdre - starring Margaret Rawlings - in the hope of drawing attention to theatre-in-the-round; this tour did not feature the Scarborough company. The tours which followed featured the Scarborough company touring after the summer or winter seasons with existing and new productions.

In 1962, touring ceased when Studio Theatre Ltd moved to its new home at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent. It would resume in 1974 after Alan Ayckbourn had become Artistic Director. This period also saw the successful launch of touring abroad in association with the British Council.

Sadly, very little is known about touring from Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre with many of the precise venues and towns visited lost to time.

Studio Theatre Ltd Tours (1958 - 1962)

1958

Phèdre tour venues
41 Fitzroy Square, London
Theatre Centre Birmingham
Vaughan College, Leicester
Library Theatre, Scarborough

Autumn tour venues
Adeyfield Hall, Hemel Hempstead
College Of Art & Technology, Leicester
Wycliffe School, Leicester
Wyggeston Girls' High School, Leicester
Unknown venue, Harlow
First performance
17 February
3 March
10 March
17 March

First performance
September (TBC)
22 September
6 October
13 October
Unknown
Plays performed
Phèdre




Plays Performed in Repertory
Captain Carvallo (Dennis Cannan); A Sense Of Loss (J.W. James); Dial M For Murder (Frederick Knott); Love & Chance (Marivaux)

1959

Winter tour venues
Birmingham Theatre Centre
Municipal Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Vaughan College, Leicester
Performance dates
5 - 31 January
2 - 28 February
2 March
Plays Performed in Repertory
The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter); Easter (August Strindberg); Martine (Jean Jacques Bernard); Ring Of Roses (David Campton); Squaring The Circle (Kataev)

1960

Winter tour venues
Municipal Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Adayfield Hall, Hemel Hempstead
Mahatma Ghandi Hall, London
Chantry Hall, Southampton
Dartington Hall, Totnes
Performance dates
4 January - 27 February
29 February - 4 March
7 - 12 March
14 - 19 March
21 - 26 March
Plays Performed in Repertory
Alas Poor Fred (James Saunders); The Gift Of Fire (David Campton); Huis Clois (Sartre); Love After All (Roland Allen); The Lunatic View (David Campton); Memento Mori (David Campton); Miss Julie (Strindberg); The Square Cat (Roland Allen); Viennese Interlude (Colin Wilson); Wuthering Heights (Jurneman 'Joan' Winch)

1961

Winter tour venues
Municipal Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Adeyfield Hall, Hemel Hempstead
Chantry Hall, Southampton
Questor's Theatre, Ealing
Dartington Hall, Totes
Kingston-upon-Hull Arts Festival

Autumn tour
Wellingborough Trade Union Festival
Performance dates
2 January - 25 February
27 February - 10 March
13 March
Late March
Mid April
Late April


2 November
Productions in Repertory
Dad's Tale (Roland Allen); Five Finger Exercise (Peter Shaffer); Little Brother, Little Sister (David Campton); Mutatis Mutandis (David Campton); Out Of The Flying Pan (David Campton); Victoria Regina (Laurence Hausman); The Way Of The Cross (Henri Gheon)

1962

Winter tour venues
Municipal Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Adeyfield Hall, Hemel Hempstead
Performance dates
1 January - TBC
March
Production in Repertory
The Boys And The Girls (David Campton); David Copperfield (Joan Macalpine); A Doll's House (Ibsen); Hamlet (Shakespeare)

Scarborough Theatre Trust Tours (1974 - 1976)

1974

Play: Confusions
Venues: Humberside Theatre, Hull; Carnegie Theatre, Workington; Coronation Hall, Ulverstone; Brewery Theatre, Kendal; Lincoln (TBC); Warwick (TBC)

Plays: Confusions; On Approval; But Fred, Freud Is Dead
Venues: Whitby Pavilion; Filey Sun Lounge

Play: Absent Friends
Venues: Castleford Civic Centre

1976

Plays: Just Between Ourselves; An Englishman's Home
Venues: Devon; Cornwall; Lake District; Lancaster; Peterborough; Belgium; Netherlands; Germany

Play: Just Between Ourselves
Venues: Gelsenkirchen, Bad Godesberg, Gütersloh, Cologne, Bad Ems, Brussels, Amstelveen, Wesel, Herford

Plays: Just Between Ourselves / What The Devil! / An Englishman's Home / All The Best People
Venues: Georgian Theatre, Richmond; Sheffield Theatres; Middlesbrough Theatre; Theatre Royal Wakefield
All research by Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce without crediting Simon Murgatroyd and the website.