Harrogate Theatre

Harrogate Theatre stands in the centre of Harrogate, a spa town in North Yorkshire. The building is a Grade II listed performance hall designed by Frank Tugwell, who also planned Scarborough’s Futurist Theatre and London’s Savoy Theatre. Its unusual hemp-house rigging system lifts scenery, lights and curtains without the usual stage doors. Performers enter through the main entrance, then use large barn doors at the back for moving equipment on and off stage. A brown plaque outside honours past stars who have appeared there, from Sarah Bernhardt and Charlie Chaplin to Eddie Izzard and Ken Dodd. The theatre opened in 1900 with a charity show for Boer War soldiers, followed by Dick Whittington at Christmas. Harold Styan made his stage debut there in 1911 as a gymnast. Inside, original front-of-house fittings remain, and the foyer holds a modelled plaster frieze by sculptor Frances Darlington that traces the history of the arts. Harrogate Theatre Scenic Services, once its in-house workshop, now builds and delivers sets worldwide from a separate workshop in Starbeck. The team includes woodworkers, metalworkers, scenic artists and sculptors. Harrogate Youth Theatre runs drama, singing and playwriting classes for ages three to eighteen in ten-week terms. Sessions take place in HIVE, a purpose-built space next to the main building. The theatre’s programme also includes performances for all ages, using the stage and rigging system to create varied productions. Visitors can see the brown plaque and the foyer frieze, then watch shows in a building that still carries the marks of its Edwardian origins.