Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange Theatre is a producing theatre in St Ann's Square/Exchange Street, Manchester, England. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

The theatre is based in the Manchester Royal Exchange, a large Victorian building used until 1968 for cotton trading. The Royal Exchange is a Victorian building in Manchester, England. The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of Architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp

Programme

The Royal Exchange gives an average of 350 performances a year of nine professional theatre productions. These productions are occasionally transferred to London, or toured in a 400 seat mobile theatre. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

The company performs a varied programme including classic theatre and revivals, contemporary drama, and original new writing. Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekhov have been the mainstay of its repertoire but the theatre has also staged important classics from other areas of the canon including the British premieres of La Ronde and The Prince Of Homburg and important revivals of The Lower Depths, Don Carlos and The Dybbuk. William Shakespeare ( baptised "Ibsen" redirects here For other people named Ibsen see Ibsen (disambiguation. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ( –) (Анто́н Па́влович Че́хов) was a Russian short-story writer and Playwright, considered to be one Reigen ( French: La Ronde) is an 1897 play by Arthur Schnitzler. The Lower Depths (На дне is perhaps Maxim Gorky 's best-known play This article refers to the opera Don Carlos ( Don Carlo when performed in Italian translation by Giuseppe Verdi The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds (Yid דער דיבוק אדער צווישן צוויי וועלטן is a 1914 play by S American work has also been important - Tennessee Williams, O'Neill, Miller, August Wilson - as has new writing, with the world premieres of The Dresser, Amongst Barbarians, A Wholly Healthy Glasgow and Port to its name. Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26 1911 &ndash February 25 1983 better known as Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright who received many of the top theatrical Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16 1888–November 27 1953 was a Nobel -prize winning American playwright Arthur Asher Miller (October 17 1915 &ndash February 10 2005 was an American Playwright and Essayist. August Wilson ( April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American Playwright. The Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant who struggles to keep his charge's life together Amongst Barbarians is a play ( 1989) by British playwright Michael Wall first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

In addition to its own productions the Royal Exchange also presents visiting theatre companies in The Studio; folk, jazz and rock concerts; and discussions, readings and literary events. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African

Performance spaces

The Royal Exchange Theatre has two performance spaces:

The theatre

This is a seven-sided steel and glass module that squats within the Great Hall of the Manchester Royal Exchange. The Royal Exchange is a Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is a pure theatre in the round in which the stage area is surrounded on all sides, and above, by seating. Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any Theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area

The theatre can seat up to 700 people on three levels, making it the largest theatre in the round in Britain. There are 400 seats at ground level in a raked configuration, above which lie two galleries, each with 150 seats set in two rows.

As the floor of the Exchange would not be able to take the great weight of the theatre and its audience, the module is suspended from four massive columns that also carry the hall's central dome. Only the stage area and ground-level seating rest on the floor of the hall itself.

The theatre's unique design was conceived by Richard Negri of Wimbledon School of Art, and was intended to create an unusually vivid and immediate relationship between actors and audiences. Wimbledon College of Art (formerly Wimbledon School of Art is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London and is one of London 's major art institutions

The studio

This is a 100 seat studio theatre of flexible configuration. This space acts as host to a programme of visiting touring theatre companies and performances for young people.

History

Foundation

The Royal Exchange Theatre was founded in 1976 in the old Cotton Exchange in Manchester by a group of artistic directors — Michael Elliott, Caspar Wrede, Richard Negri, James Maxwell and Braham Murray — a group whose origins lay in the 59 and later 69 Theatre Companies whose work had had such an impact first in London and then Manchester. baron Caspar Wrede (or Casper Wrede, February 8, 1929, Viipuri, Finland - September 25, 1998, Helsinki James Maxwell ( 23 March 1929 – 18 August 1995) was an Actor, best known for his television appearances usually in minor roles In 1979 the artistic directorship was augmented by the appointment of Gregory Hersov. Hersov and Braham Murray are the last surviving members of the original group.

The IRA bomb and its aftermath

On 15 June 1996 the IRA detonated a massive bomb in Manchester city centre, 50 metres from the Exchange in nearby Corporation Street. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann ( IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the The 1996 Manchester bombing was a bomb attack undertaken by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA in Manchester, England. Damage to the building was extensive, making performances impossible.

Repairs took over two years to complete and cost £32 million, a sum provided by the National Lottery. The National Lottery is the largest Lottery in the United Kingdom. Whilst its home was being rebuilt the company performed in its mobile theatre, which was set up in an indoor market building in nearby Castlefield.

As well as repairing the theatre the rebuilding programme also added a second performance space, The Studio, as well as a bookshop, craft shop, restaurant, bars, and rooms for corporate hospitality. The theatre's workshops, costume department and rehearsal rooms were moved to a second site on Swan Street.

The refurbished theatre was re-opened on 30 November 1998 by Prince Edward. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The opening production was Stanley Houghton's Hindle Wakes, the play which would be presented on the day when the bomb went off. (William Stanley Houghton ( February 22, 1881 - December 10, 1913) was a British Playwright.

In 1999 the Royal Exchange was awarded the title of Theatre of the Year in the Barclays Theatre Awards, in recognition of its successful refurbishment and ambitious re-opening season.

Notable people associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre

Over the years the Exchange has attracted a high calibre of actor to its stage from Albert Finney, Leo McKern and Tom Courtenay in the early days through successive generations including Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren and Robert Lindsay to figures such as Janet McTeer and Amanda Donohoe. Albert Finney Jr (born 9 May 1936 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated and Emmy Award -winning English Actor. Reginald "Leo" McKern AO (16 March 1920 &ndash 23 July 2002 was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British Television programs movies Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (pronounced "Courtney" born 25 February 1937) is an English Actor who came to prominence in the early Vanessa Redgrave, CBE (born 30 January, 1937) is an English Academy Award, two-time Cannes Best Actress, Dame Helen Mirren, DBE (born 26 July 1945 is an English stage, Film and Television actress. Robert Lindsay (born 13 December 1949 is an award-winning English actor who is best known for his television work especially his roles in Citizen Smith Janet McTeer, OBE (born May 8, 1961) is an award-winning British Actress. Amanda Donohoe (born 29 June 1962) is a Golden Globe Award -winning English actress It has also had a reputation for spotting young actors before they became megastars. Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant both appeared at the Royal Exchange long before they made it on film. Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born 5 October 1975 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -nominated Emmy Award -nominated Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960 is a British Actor and Film producer.

The Exchange has also had a knack of spotting directorial and design talent before they went onto greater things. Adrian Noble, Nicholas Hytner, Phyllida Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Robert Delamare, Matthew Lloyd and Marrianne Elliott all directed at the Exchange as associate or artistic directors at some stage and designers such as Mark Thomas, Rae Smith and Lez Brotherston have all done important work there. Adrian Keith Noble (born Chichester, Sussex, England, 19 July 1950) is a Theatre director, and was also the Artistic Nicholas Hytner (born 7 May 1956) is an English producer and director Phyllida Lloyd (born June 17, 1957) is an English director best known for her work in theatre Ian McDiarmid (born 11 August 1944 is a Scottish Tony Award -winning actor and Theatre director. Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978 is an Australian rules footballer who plays for and is captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April, 1963) is an English Comedian, presenter political activist and reporter from south London

Ghosts

The Royal Exchange building and the theatre itself are reputed to be haunted. One of the ghosts is reputed to be that of the actor and founding artistic director, James Maxwell. James Maxwell ( 23 March 1929 – 18 August 1995) was an Actor, best known for his television appearances usually in minor roles Another is that of a maternal Victorian lady, well dressed and with "a passion for drink".

In 2006, the building was the subject of a paranormal investigation by the Most Haunted programme on Living TV. Most Haunted is a British Paranormal television programme based on investigating purported Paranormal activity although

External links

• The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
• Reviews of Manchester Theatre
• What's On At The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
• Manchester Area Psychogeographic Examination of some of the architectural influences on the theatre and the building it is in.

Bibliography

• The Biggest Room in the World: A Short History of the Royal Exchange. RDH Scott. 1976. Royal Exchange Theatre Trust. ISBN 0-85972-033-0