Capital case study: Live Theatre Newcastle - Arts Council England

Capital case study:
Live Theatre
Newcastle
Project background and history
Live Theatre is the longest established
professional theatre company in north
east England. Since its foundation in
1973 it has become one of the leading
new writing theatres in the country. In
the 1980s, Live Theatre was the first
cultural organisation to establish itself
in the Newcastle Gateshead quayside,
long before the area became a symbol
of cultural renaissance. In 2008, Live
Theatre opened its newly redeveloped
premises, incorporating the last of the
historic quayside buildings remaining to
be refurbished.
The development of the theatre
building from an operational base
in a semi-derelict warehouse to an
exciting modern performance venue
was achieved phase by phase, taking
advantage of whatever capital funding
became available. It demonstrates the
way in which many arts organisations
in the UK work – gradually improving
and extending their premises as money
becomes available. Live Theatre’s latest
and most significant capital project was
completed in September 2008 with
a package of grants from a range of
national and regional bodies with remits
1 Contents
2 Executive summary
3 Project background and history
4 The company
5 Vital statistics
6 Rationale for the project
to cover the arts, historic buildings, city
regeneration, economic development,
education, and social integration. All
these interests are drawn together in
the project.
Live Theatre has its roots firmly planted
in Newcastle and the surrounding areas.
In its early days, the company toured to
non-traditional venues such as pubs and
social clubs. Its output was developed
for and about the working people
of the north east of England. After
nearly ten years of a peripatetic style
of operation, the company acquired
a 125-year lease on a small group of
buildings on the quayside (27 Broad
Chare and 7/8 Trinity Chare) which
included an 18th-century bonded
warehouse and adjacent almshouses.
Like much of the surrounding area at
the time, the buildings were dilapidated
and neglected.
Live Theatre set about converting the
premises into a base for the company
and a small cabaret style venue. In
1985/86 a grant from the Arts Council
enabled enough work to be done to
open the performance space to the
7 Planning and project development
8 Design
9 Construction and delivery
10 The new theatre
11 Wider lessons
12 Credits
public. The rest of this initial project
was completed a decade later with
capital funding of £400,000 from the
European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) and Tyne and Wear Development
Corporation (1994/95).
That same year, premises next door
to the theatre (at 25b Broad Chare)
became available and Live Theatre was
able to secure a grant of £1,049,650
from the recently launched National
Lottery programme to acquire the lease.
The aim was to join the two buildings
together, converting 25b Broad Chare
to create a box office, café and bar
facilities, and lettable office space as
well as creating disability access to the
main venue.
Work on the most recent capital project
was started in 2006. A further building
was acquired (29, Broad Chare) and a
£5.5 million programme of new-build,
conversion and improvements across
the portfolio of properties provided the
radically enhanced facilities that Live
Theatre now enjoys.