Theatre and event venue in Sheffield, England
The
Crucible Theatre
, or simply
The Crucible
, is a theatre in
Sheffield
,
South Yorkshire
, England which opened in 1971. It hosts regular
theatrical
performances and the annual
World Snooker Championship
, which has been held at the venue since 1977. The theatre's name refers to
crucible steel
, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. In May 2022 plans were unveiled to build a new 3,000-seat venue nearby with a bridge connecting the two buildings.
[2]
History
[
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]
The Crucible Theatre was built by
M J Gleeson
and opened in 1971.
[3]
It replaced the
Sheffield Repertory Theatre
which was based in Townhead Street at the Sheffield Playhouse. In 1967
Colin George
, the founding artistic director of the Crucible, recommended a
thrust stage
for Sheffield, inspired by theatres created by Sir
Tyrone Guthrie
.
Tanya Moiseiwitsch
, who had been involved in designing Guthrie's theatres, was recruited to design Gleeson's theatre as well.
[4]
The architects
Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects
were employed and the building itself began to take shape in 1969. It was completed in two years, with the opening performance in November 1971. The opening night performances were
Fanfare
, an evening's entertainment showing children acting in an improvised scene,
Anton Chekhov
's
Swansong
with
Ian McKellen
and
Edward Petherbridge
, and a music hall finale with a Sheffield brass band.
This demonstrated the versatility of the stage, which has since been adapted for dance and musical performances, as well as classical and modern theatre. The Crucible Theatre also hosts touring productions and the
World Snooker Championship
.
The audience sits on three sides but no member is more than 22 yards (20 metres) from the performer. Consequently, although it seats 980 people the spectator has an intimate relationship with the activity on stage. Colin George and the administrator David Brayshaw persuaded the
Gulbenkian Foundation
to finance the building of a professional studio theatre ? the 400 seat
Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse
, which opened with the main house.
In 2001, the Crucible was awarded the
Barclays
'Theatre of the Year Award'.
[5]
It is a Grade II
listed building
.
[1]
The building went through a £15 million refurbishment between 2007 and late 2009 ? opening during that period only for the 2008 and 2009 World Snooker Championships.
[6]
The Crucible reopened as a theatre on 11 February 2010 with a production of
Henrik Ibsen
's
An Enemy of the People
, with the official reopening by
Prince Edward
on 18 February 2010.
[7]
Operation
[
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]
Theatre
[
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]
Under the distinguished leadership of a succession of artistic directors, The Crucible is a producing theatre, meaning shows are designed and rehearsed in-house. Productions are normally overseen by the
Sheffield Theatres
Group which also comprises the smaller
Playhouse
, housed in the same complex, and the large capacity neighbouring receiving venue the
Lyceum
.
Sports venue
[
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]
The
World Snooker Championship
tournament has been played annually at the Crucible since
1977
, and the venue has been lauded for creating a special feeling of excitement around the event. Sports journalist Peter Mason, in
The Guardian
, has argued that while the physical aspects of the Crucible are "greatly underwhelming", there is an undeniably special atmosphere inside the auditorium which means that "against all the modernist odds this relentlessly forward-looking theatre appears to have become infused with memories of the past every bit as easily as if it were a creaking old music hall dating back to the 19th century".
[8]
The
World Women's Snooker Championship
was also held at the Crucible between
1998
and
2003
but was eventually withdrawn due to financial difficulties. The venue has also hosted championships of other indoor
sports
, such as
table tennis
and
squash
.
Future plans
[
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]
In May 2022 plans were unveiled for a new World Snooker Championship venue that would be attached to the existing Crucible Theatre building via a bridge. The new venue is to host up to 3,000 spectators.
[9]
Snooker promoter
Barry Hearn
had confirmed talks were underway with
Sheffield City Council
in April 2022. Hearn added that the tournament could move elsewhere if the new project is not supported but, "the Crucible name is synonymous with snooker globally... so the name has to remain."
[10]
The new building has been designed by the architect James Burland, the architect behind the
City of Manchester Stadium
, along with
Arup
. The building will also house a snooker museum.
[11]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Bibliography
[
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]
- Stirring Up Sheffield ? an insider's account of the battle to build the Crucible Theatre, Colin George & Tedd George, Wordville (2021),
ISBN 978-1-8384036-2-1
- Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: A Model Theatre in the Tradition of the Juvenile Drama
, Michael D. Everett, MDE Pubns (1981),
ISBN
0-906933-01-3
- The acoustical design and performance of the Sheffield Crucible Theatre
, D. J. Oldham, Dept. of Building Science, Faculty of Architectural Studies, University of Sheffield (1973),
OL
13964103M
,
OCLC
20304835
External links
[
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