Theatre in Birmingham
The Guild of the Holy Cross was established in the 14th century to maintain chantries in the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring, and is likely to have presented liturgical drama at its guildhall on New Street.
[7] The standard of production in this new venue was reflected in the remarks of William Hutton, writing later in the century: "here the comedian strutted in painted rags, ornamented with tinsel.
[12] The Moor Street Theatre featured notable cast-members – David Garrick himself performed at Moor Street in the 1740s[13] – and presented a credible repertoire: the season for 1744 included Shakespeare's Othello, Julius Caesar and The Tempest, John Vanbrugh's The Provok'd Wife, Fair Rosamund and The Biter Bit, William Congreve's Love for Love and The Mourning Bride, and John Rich's The Spaniard Outwitted.
[14] Performances were given in costumes "proper to the play", reflecting the time and culture in which the drama was set, anticipating Garrick's later reforms at Drury Lane in London.
[13] Popular dramatic entertainment much like later music hall was also often held in the town's larger public houses, including the "George and Dragon" and the "Red Lion" in the Bull Ring, the "King's Head" in Digbeth and the "Roe Buck" in Cox Street.
[25] The Tivoli (later the Hippodrome) and the Lyceum (later the Alexandra Theatre) showed melodrama, pantomime, circus and variety acts.
[25] The Theatre Royal and the Prince of Wales, which had closed their stock companies, received touring modern and classical drama from leading national actor-managers.
[26] Although they were allowed to reopen after a few weeks, the onset of the Birmingham Blitz in 1940 led to a collapse in attendance at evening performances and the return of closure for the majority of theatres.
[27] Moss Empires closed the Theatre Royal in 1958, with the replacement proposed as part of the ATV Centre never materialising.
[30] Moss Empires threatened to close the Hippodrome in 1961 and 1970, but in 1979 sold it to the City Council who in turn leased it to a charitable trust.
The 12+ show seasons are produced by its volunteer base in its entirety using the theatres extensive costume store, Props department and set design workshop.
The Crescent Theatre recently celebrated its Centenary season in 2023/2024 by revisiting a number of previously produced shows.
[35] Founded in 1992, it has focused on new and contemporary plays since 1998, producing world premieres by playwrights including Oren Lavie, Paul Lucas, Dominic Leyton, David Mamet and Reg Cribb.
[40] The Birmingham Opera Company under artistic director Graham Vick has developed an international reputation for its avant-garde productions,[41] which often take place in factories, abandoned buildings and other found spaces around the city.
