Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

The Belgrade Theatre stands in Coventry’s rebuilt city centre, a modernist brick building opened in 1958. It was the first civic theatre built in Britain after the Second World War and is now listed at Grade II. The theatre’s name comes from Coventry’s post-war twinning with Belgrade in Yugoslavia, which donated beech timber for its construction. Inside, the auditorium panels echo the Royal Festival Hall, praised by visiting architects for their warmth and acoustics. A later extension added a seven-storey block with a 300-seat space and rehearsal rooms, designed to fit the scale of new developments around it. The theatre became a hub for new work soon after opening. Its first director, Bryan Bailey, established a resident company that premiered Arnold Wesker’s trilogy in the late 1950s. In the 1960s the Belgrade pioneered Theatre in Education, using projects like Pow Wow to explore moral choices with schoolchildren. Under Hamish Glen, it helped Coventry win UK City of Culture 2021 and hosted events including pop-up performances and outdoor shows. The 2021 season mixed drama, musicals and live music, supported by producers who emphasised diverse voices. Visitors enter through an open square with a fountain and two sculptures, one a memorial to Bryan Bailey. The main foyer leads to the original auditorium, still lined with Yugoslav beech, and to the newer studio space above the enlarged café and bar. The extension’s coloured renders and glass panels sit beside the older brickwork, marking the theatre’s evolving role in the city. From the square, the theatre’s north-east flank of Portland stone and glass faces a small green space, completing a quiet corner in Coventry’s rebuilt centre.