Manchester Library Theatre Company
1944-1976
Archives
Total copies: 1
BOX 1
Advance booking ledgers (gives number of seats sold at what price, when, for each in-house performance), 1948-1951 (3 volumes)
BOX 2
Advance booking ledger, 1951-1952 (1 volume)
BOX 3
Advance booking ledger, 1952-1953 (1 volume)
BOX 4
Theatre Manager's correspondence regarding licenses for productions, 1944-1969 (1 file)
Theatre Manager's general correspondence including cast lists, staff lists, press cuttings, mailing lists, etc., 1960-1966 (1 file)
Income journal (gives source of income and particulars, such as the rent of the theatre by whom on what date - a record of external users of the Library Theatre), 1948-1956 (1 vol)
BOX 5
Reports, etc. of City Librarian/Director of Libraries and Theatres to Theatre Sub-Committee, Libraries Committee and Administration Sub-Committee of Manchester City Council, 1945-1955, 1963 (for Library Theatre reports 1964-1988, see reports of the Director on Exhibitions and Other Activities (M740/2/7/1/3/1-6)
BOX 6
Resident season accounts (gives expenditure breakdowns by performance), 1953-1957 (4 vols)
Company accounts (gives programme accounts, coffee bar accounts, management accounts, summer season accounts, pre-production expenses and expenditure breakdowns by performance), 1957-1959 (1 vol)
BOX 7
Company accounts (gives programme accounts, coffee bar accounts, management accounts, summer season accounts, pre-production expenses and expenditure breakdowns by performance), 1959-1963 (4 vols)
Wage lists (give names and salaries of employees, not performers), 1958-1962 (2 vols)
BOX 8
Wage lists (give names and salaries of employees, not performers), 1962-1971 (3 vols)
Annual accounts, 1967-1971 (2 vols)
BOX 9
Resident season accounts (gives expenditure breakdowns by performance), 1964-1968 (3 vols)
Annual accounts, 1965-1967 (2 vols)
BOX 10
Performers' contracts, arranged alphabetically, 1965-1971 (1 box) (RESTRICTED ACCESS)
BOX 11
Income journals (gives source of income and particulars, such as the rent of the theatre by whom on what date - a record of external users of the Library Theatre), 1957-1964 (7 files)
BOX 12
Final weekly returns (gives number of tickets sold for each performance), 1952-1976 (6 volumes)
BOX 13
Correspondence relating to the Theatre Guild Ltd.'s use of the Library Theatre, 1948-1949 (1 file)
Correspondence relating to a proposed Manchester Literary Festival, 1955-1956 (1 file)
File of minutes, reports, correspondence and publicity for the Manchester Festival of Amateur Theatre, 1948-1954 (1 file)
File of correspondence, cuttings, reports and publicity relating to the Intimate Theatre Group and the Arena Theatre Company Ltd's performances at the Central Library, 1950-1952
OUTSIZE
Attendance statistics graphs (1 roll)
Related Material:Programmes and photographs are held in the Theatre Collection (Arts Library).
For a list of all shows performed: http://www.librarytheatre.com/whatson/archive.php/7/5/archive/
Place:Manchester/Manchester/Manchester/Lancashire/England
Manchester Metropolitan District/Greater Manchester/England
Title:
Manchester Library Theatre Company
Date of work:
1944-1976
Reference number:
GB127.M382
Level of description:
Fonds
Custodial history:
Although the immediate history of the Library Theatre may be said to begin in the years after the Second World War, when the lecture theatre in the basement beneath Manchester Central Library was converted into a theatre, its deeper origins lie in earlier debates as to the necessity and legitimacy of spending ratepayers' money on a municipal theatre. When the Central Library opened in 1934 a large lecture hall had been provided, with other facilities, to ensure that it would serve as an important centre of cultural activities for the people of Manchester.
The unique size and location of the lecture theatre, seating 300, made it an ideal small venue for future performances. During the Second World War the theatre was used as a studio by the BBC and was restricted to engagements such as lunchtime commentaries from the Ministry of Information.
After the war, the Manchester Corporation Act of 1946 empowered the Libraries Committee to fully utilise the theatre for 'lectures, exhibitions, concerts, displays, and the performance of stage plays for or in connection with the advancement of art, education, drama, science, music or literature'.
For theatregoers, who were finding serious drama elusive in a city centre increasingly dominated by the cinema and variety theatres, this was seen as the first step towards the establishment of a professional civic theatre. The City of Manchester Plan had already recognised the importance of such a cultural facility, and after considerable discussion it was decided that the theatre would be let at a nominal charge to a non-profit-making repertory company.
The theatre was opened under the director Andre van Gyseghem, who managed the Manchester Intimate Theatre Group. The first performance, The Seagull, took place on 11 February 1947. From then until 1952 various companies worked at the theatre, and Manchester people were able to see many actors who would later become big names - Laurence Harvey, Tony Britton, Harry H Corbett - and productions by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, with Ewan MacColl, Warren Jenkins, Howard Goorney and David Scase.
Not everyone welcomed the appearance of a new theatre in the city centre however, and among the objectors were the Theatrical Managers' Association, who were concerned about the impact on existing theatres. Walter Payne, Chairman of the Theatres National Committee, emphasised the present vulnerability of local theatres by observing that 'fog in Manchester might be sufficient to put a theatre on the wrong side, financially'. The theatre's opponents feared that it would be offering unfair competition because of its subsidies and 'privileged status' as part of Manchester Corporation, and they argued that productions should be restricted to amateur societies. Various companies subsequently occupied the Library Theatre in association with the Arts Council, but mounting losses eventually led to a withdrawal of support.
In August 1952, the Libraries Committee took direct control of the theatre through their officer, the City Librarian, and artistic director Peter Lambert, and it is this bold step which marked the birth of the Library Theatre Company.
The first performance by the Library Theatre Resident Company under the auspices of the Libraries Committee was Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, in November of that year.
'Our aims are modest and simple -
to avoid any hint of burlesque in treating the period and yet to play in a slight atmosphere of 'the higher lunacy' wherein the absurd logic of the serious farce can be reasonably sustained' Stuart Latham, producer, quoted in the programme.
This first season lasted for only 26 weeks, but it was to introduce many young artists who later became famous in films and television. Much of the theatre's early success was due to the drive and vision of David Scase, who became stage director in 1954. For many years up to the early Sixties it attracted near-capacity audiences and was able to declare a
Finding aids note:
Old Location ST4/O1.9 (outsize roll) Old Location2ST3/P14 (box 1-10), ST3/P19 (Box 11-13)Subject:THEATRE LIBRARIES
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedThis collection is open apart from the performers' contracts, which are on restricted access
This material is stored off site and we require 2 weeks' notice in order to retrieve it.
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
Topics:
Record types:
Manchester Archives and Local Studies
Language:
English
Record number:
7194326