Know your theatre: Wales’ largest producing theatre opened in 1976 next to County Hall, in a complex opened by the Queen. The theatre has a proud history of major productions with star international names. Theatr Clwyd productions are seen throughout the year both in Wales and on UK tours. Appointed as artistic director in 2023 Kate Wasserberg, formerly artistic director of new-writing company Stockroom and Cardiff's The Other Room, is overseeing an ambitious, £35m redevelopment project to create a large extension at the front, including a new three-storey foyer and restaurant, bar and cafe. The building has three performing spaces and a multi-purpose function room, and though the redevelopment will massively upgrade facilities, the theatre spaces won't be changed. The main Anthony Hopkins Theatre is a single-raked tier seating up to 569, with five wheelchair spaces. The Emlyn Williams Theatre is a flexible studio space for 147-250. Studio 2, built to TV broadcast standards, can hold up to 120 for performance events and is used as a second rehearsal space. The theatre also has a small cinema (capacity 113) and a large function room used for gigs (capacity 240). Theatr Clwyd Address: Raikes Lane, Mold, Wales CH7 1YA Phone: General inquiries and box office: 01352 344101 (line open 10am-6pm) Facilities: The theatre complex is large, containing theatre spaces and other events and refreshment facilities. The theatre website is here . Disabled visitors are well catered for with wheelchair access to all floors, disabled parking spaces, an induction loop for hearing aid users, some "relaxed" performances when audience movement and noise are acceptable, and facilities for visual impairment. See here for details. Parking: Once in the Mold area prominent signage points you to the theatre complex. Currently, an underground car park is closed but parking is available on a tiered open air car park. Avoid parking immediately in front of the building. Online box office: Go here if you haven't booked online at Theatr Clwyd before, or find the show on the website and follow the bookings link. Email box.office@theatrclwyd.com with queries.

Know your theatre: Clonter Opera Theatre, Congleton Clonter, sometimes called ‘the Glyndebourne of the North’, is on a working farm in the Cheshire countryside, not far from the Jodrell Bank radio telescope. Clonter began as informal gatherings in a barn, with seating on bales of straw. Today the venue has a 400-seat theatre (though a former hen house is still part of the backstage facilities), and a well-established programme of events. Clonter notably showcases young operatic talent, but also jazz and folk. Front of house now offers sufficient accommodation for the entire audience to enjoy a meal under one roof, either before or part-way through the performance (ordered from the house caterer or your own picnic), which is something even Glyndebourne cannot offer. Expect to meet the Cheshire set in full cry (especially after imbibing during a long interval) as your fellow opera-buffs, but this stage frequently offers future international stars in the making, so it can be worth it... Address: Swettenham Heath, Trap Rd, Congleton CW12 2LR Phone: General inquiries and box office: 01260 224514 (10am-4pm Mon-Fri and performance days). The theatre is large, the building boasting separate rooms of various sizes, allowing it to function as a theatre and for corporate hires and schools use throughout the year. The theatre website offers a range of accommodation choices for long-distance visitors. Disabled visitors are well catered for Facilities: Parking: There is a drop-off point outside the theatre entrance, and free parking. Eight bays close to the main entrance can be reserved for those with reduced mobility. Online box office: Go here if you haven't booked online at Clonter before, or here if you have. You need to open an account for online booking.

Know your theatre: Opened in 1887, the Coliseum was one of the oldest British theatres still operating, and was much loved by its loyal supporters – perhaps more so since its demise in March 2023. Once a circus, in the 1930s it was briefly a cinema before becoming the members-only Oldham Repertory Theatre. It was said to be one of the most haunted theatres in Britain, and a famous stage death occurred there in the 1940s. By the 1950s-60s the resident company helped to form the careers of Coronation Street stars Jean Alexander, Pat Phoenix, Roy Barra-clough, William Roache and local girls Barbara Knox and Anne Kirkbride. In 1978 it became the Arts Council and local authority-supported Oldham Coliseum, offering a mix of professional productions of its own and other touring shows, It was famous for its massively-popular annual pantomime. Plans for a new building were scrapped in late 2018 and the withdrawal of an Arts Council "NPO" grant in late 2022 led to the theatre's closure in March 2023. Plans are supposedly in place for a smaller replacement within three or so years, which might not retain the name. Coliseum Theatre, Oldham (closed Mar '23) Address: Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Fairbottom Street, Oldham OL1 3SW Phone: Facilities: Parking: Some on-street metered parking. Bradshaw Street car park is nearby, with a concessionary rate after 6pm. More information here Online box office:

Know your theatre: The home of Opera North, Leeds Grand (now combined with the City Varieties Theatre under a "Leeds Heritage Theatres" banner) combines being a self-producing opera house, a main base for Northern Ballet Theatre and welcoming major touring shows. Opened in 1878, £32 million was spent in the Naughties to bring it completely up to date without losing the wonderful atmosphere of an ornate, four-tier Victorian theatre. You can still see the railings up in the "gods" where the hoi polloi would occupy the standing-only sections. Today the theatre has remarkably good sight lines for a 1,550-seat auditorium on a restricted floorplan, and though the pit isn’t really big enough for a Wagnerian orchestra, Opera North does amazing things by using every square foot of space. A word to the wise: the front of the Upper Circle can give a better view, often less expensively, than the back of the Dress Circle... Opera North last year completed an £18 million project to turn shop units next to the theatre into its new "Kino" restaurant and bar. with a separate entrance (and lift) to the upgraded 300-seat Howard Assembly Room. This acts as a second, smaller space with its own, highly-eclectic performance programme. Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds Address: Phone: Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU Box office 0844 848 2700. Groups of 10+ call 0113 297 7040. General inquiries 0113 245 6014. Facilities: As a mid-Victorian theatre in a city centre, the Grand doesn't major in facilities beyond bars and foyers - hence the addition of a new restaurant and entrance (see here for current local pre-and post-show dining). A lift can take patrons to most levels of the theatre, but those with poor mobility should check with the box office to avoid steep steps. Wheelchair spaces are available, as is an audio system (headsets £5 returnable deposit). Parking: Parking is available at nearby car parks, including Edward Street/Templar Street and St John's , The Light and Merrion Centre shopping malls. Limited street parking is available near the theatre. See here for the parking map Online box office: Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice

Know your theatre: Opened in 2015, the architectural brutalism of the interior concrete walls is home to a mightily relaxed, welcoming building with a quirky theatre space, world and independent cinema selection, art galleries, a friendly bar and good food. The building combines the facilities of the previous Library Theatre and Cornerhouse galleries/cinema and like the latter, is a popular meeting place for arts-minded students that offers a theatre programme some way removed from its Library Theatre predecessor. Here you will find mainly touring theatre that can be inspiring and brilliantly staged and performed, as well as cutting-edge experimental work. HOME, Manchester Address: 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN Phone: Box Office 0161 200 1500, Cafe Bar 0161 212 3500, Enquiries 0161 228 7621 Facilities: HOME offers theatre and dance shows, independent films, art galleries, a great cafe/restaurant with terrific food, and bars and a bookshop. Access is excellent. Parking: On street nearby; large multi-storey next door and ground-level parking within walking distance. Online box office: Go here , and follow the link to your show.

Know your theatre: Theatre architect Frank Matcham's masterpiece sits on a windy street back from the prom, on an awkward corner site that was once a circus. Built between December 1893 and July 1894 at a cost of £20,000, today it is known as "Matcham’s masterpiece", a glorious, Grade II* listed, 1,100-seater four-level wonder of ornate gilded plasterwork. The Grand is one of several Matcham masterpieces, but for Blackpool he was asked to design “the prettiest theatre in the land”. There might be arguments about that (Matcham's Buxton Opera House anyone?), but as well as being beautiful it had innovations such as cantilevered tiers, which needed fewer pillars and offered unobstructed views. The theatre had been successful until the 1930s, but then faced competition from talking pictures. Outside summer seasons it also had to operate as a cinema. The vast, nearby Opera House in 1938, and later the arrival of TV, put the theatre into financial decline. Popular summer farces in the 50s and 60s couldn’t sustain it year-round, but thanks to Jeffrey Finestone of the Victorian Society, it was listed as Grade II* in 1972 and demolition plans proposed months later were rejected. After tortuous negotiations and time as a bingo hall, the Friends of the Grand, with Blackpool Council, bought the theatre in 1980 and it reopened with an Old Vic performance of The Merchant of Venice , with Timothy West and Prunella Scales. Vast amounts of fund-raising have produced a couple of major restorations since then, and the "Glorious Grand" is now the UK’s National Theatre of Variety, and Lancashire’s top touring-show theatre. Grand Theatre, Blackpool Address: 33 Church Street, Blackpool, FY1 1HT Phone: Box office 01253 290190. Theatre administration: 01253 290111 Facilities: As a late-Victorian theatre in a busy town, the Grand has the usual run of bars and a place for coffee and light snacks (Matcham Court Bar), but no restaurant. The theatre has relationships with a number of nearby chain restaurants, which sometimes offer deals on food for theatregoers. The theatre has baby-changing facilities and disabled loos (rear stalls). Assistance dogs are welcome. Parking: Online box office: The nearest car park to the Grand is West Street car park. The theatre offers a special parking ticket at this site only (£2.50, 5.30pm-12.30am, which is car park closing time), available only with a show ticket. Tickets can be purchased at the time of booking or on the evening at the box office. Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice

Know your theatre: Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool The Royal Court is the largest producing theatre in the Liverpool City Region, an historic art deco Grade II listed building, extensively modernised and refreshed. The theatre has developed its own unique style, producing eight plays a year, mostly comedies and musicals with a Liverpool theme, and a largely local cast and crew. Pre-show dining, cabaret-style stalls seating and a range of drinks are served before and after the show – a feature of a night out at the Court. The site has been at the heart of Liverpool culture for nearly 200 years, first as Cookes New Circus in 1826, renamed the Royal Court Theatre in 1881 but destroyed by fire in 1933. Rebuilt as an art deco showpiece, it reopened in 1938, with exemplary acoustics and sightlines and the largest revolve outside London. Astaire, Gielgud, Richardson, Olivier, Yul Brynner, Margot Fonteyn and Ken Dodd all appeared here; Judi Dench made her acting debut here in 1957 and is a patron of the theatre trust, having supported the £12m restoration campaign that over the past decade has created new foyer space, provided lifts to all parts, a 150-seat basement venue and new technical facilities, bars and toilets. Further improvements are still in the works. Address: 1 Roe Street, Liverpool, L1 1HL Phone: General inquiries: 0151 702 5890. Box office: 0151 709 4321 ​ ​ As we suggested above, a main feature of the 1,100-seat Royal Court is its auditorium layout. There are traditional seating rows in the circle and balcony, but cabaret-style seating in the stalls, at which meals are served for many of the shows (arrive an hour early minimum if you have ordered such). The Royal Court prides itself on its friendliness and social atmosphere, and apart from its local approach to theatre runs several groups, including a community choir, a playwriting group and even a gardening group to keep theatre planting tidy. There are extensive youth attractions too, including a youth theatre company. Facilities: Parking: Nearest parking is St Johns Shopping Centre car park which is £5.00 after 6pm for up to six hours. If not travelling by car, the theatre is close to Lime Street station and next to the Queen Square bus station. Timetables can be found here Online box office: Tickets can be bought online by finding the show here and following the links ​

Know your theatre: Contact Theatre, Manchester The most unusual-looking theatre building you’ll ever come across, Contact has undergone more radical changes of direction than your average performing arts organisation. Built as the performance space for Manchester University Drama Department, it was briefly used by the ‘69 Theatre Company before that became the Royal Exchange Theatre Company. In 1972 the building became home to the Manchester Young People’s Theatre, aka Contact, a sadly now little-remembered repertory company under the likes of Richard Williams, that presented many of Alan Bleasdale’s stage successes and gave young actors such as Mark Rylance and Rick Mayall early roles. The set-up later changed again to take Contact back to its young people's theatre roots, and a rebuild in 1999 produced the highly-distinctive current ventilation chimneys. Now fully open again after a £6.5m re-vamp in 2020, the emphasis is even more on young people doing it for themselves. Contact’s aim is to enable young people to change their lives through the arts as well as enabling audiences of all ages to experience new shows. Contact is the leading national theatre and arts venue to place young people at the decision-making heart of everything. Young people aged 13-30 lead the organisation, working alongside staff in deciding the artistic programme, making staff appointments and acting as full board members. Pic: Joel Chester Fildes Address: Contact Theatre, Devas Street, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA Phone: Box office 0161 274 0600 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm), General inquiries 0161 274 0646. Facilities: This fascinating - not to say quirky - architectural edifice near the university has a main 320-seat auditorium (Space 1) and an 80-seat studio. The redevelopment has produced new performance spaces, a new recording studio, an arts and health development space, new offices for organisations to hire and a new café/bar. The work also contributed to the building's emphasis on sustainable development: Contact is reckoned to be in the top one per cent of the North West's most environmentally-friendly buildings. Parking: Contact doesn't have its own parking, but visitors can use the university car park, which is directly outside and subject to charges. Online box office: Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice

Know your theatre: The most beautifully-located profes-sional theatre in the UK, Theatre by the Lake traces its origin to 1948 and a team of theatre enthusiasts who created a 225-seat mobile theatre to take live performance around post-war Britain. The convoy of trailers arrived in Keswick for the first time in 1961, but by 1975 was unfit to tour, so the company successfully took up residence by Derwentwater. In 1996 the convoy was uprooted one last time, to be replaced by the current permanent structure, the last theatre built in Britain in the 20th Century and the first to be built – at a cost of £6.5m –with the help of the national lottery. The theatre opened in August 1999 with Charley’s Aunt . There are two stages, a 400-seat main house with a central rake that has excellent sight lines, and a 100-seat studio. The main house is large for its seating capacity, high and wide, with a stage capable of holding big shows. In the main house the company presents a busy programme of now mainly wide- appeal co-productions (partnering with theatres including Bolton Octagon and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) throughout the year and a wide-ranging series of studio shows. TBTL also hosts a variety of festivals and visiting companies. The theatre has a loyal local audience, alongside the many tourists who enjoy a night of theatre after tramping the fells. Theatre by the Lake, Keswick Address: Theatre by the Lake, Lakeside, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 5DJ Phone: Box Office: 017687 74411 (9.30am-7.30pm/6pm non-performance nights). Admin: 017687 72282 (9am-5pm). Catering: 017687 81102 (9am-9pm). Also available by email . The theatre is currently closed but expects to reopen in autumn 2021. Facilities: A modern theatre with modern sensibilities when it comes to loos and disabled facilities. Avoid the main theatre side seats if you can, despite their lower cost. The adjacent restaurant is open 10am-3pm daily, and a tourist attraction in itself, with views across the lake. When the theatre reopens allow plenty of time to dine as service can be slow – though there is that view to look at... Parking: The theatre is located off Lake Road and is indicated on brown tourist signs throughout the town. Lakeside car park (Allerdale Borough Council, pay and display) is next to the theatre, and in summer gets very busy, so allow plenty of time to park. Charge is £1 from 7pm-7am. Before 7pm charges vary. Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice. Online box office:

Know your theatre: Built for £95,000 by public subscription and opened in 1967, the Octagon was the first professional theatre built in the North West after World War II – one of very few 'in the round'. Particularly associated with local playwrights Bill Naughton and Jim Cartwright, the Octagon today offers a wide range of repertory productions and co-productions mixing classics and lighter material. When the theatre's future was threatened in 1999, 12,000 people signed a petition to 'Keep theatre made in Bolton', and succeeded. The theatre closed in 2018 for a £12m renovation and officially reopened, after Covid delays, on July 6 2021, with a production of The Hound Of The Baskervilles . The revamped building has a new roof, electrics and plumbing, is more environmentally friendly, has greatly improved accessibility, new restaurant, bar and back stage facilities. The Octagon's main space seats up to 390, its studio space 100. The main house has the best sight lines of any theatre – that's probably a fact. Octagon Theatre, Bolton Address: Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft St, Bolton BL1 1SB . Phone: Box Office: 01204 520661 (Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm, opt 2; applies also to group bookings). You can also contact info@octagonbolton.co.uk with general inquiries and boxoffice@octagonbolton.co.uk with booking inquiries. Facilities: The new theatre has an extensive cafe/bar area (open Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm) breakfast served until noon), extensive facilities for disabled patrons, new seating and studio and classroom spaces. Parking: Nearest car park: Octagon NCP multi-storey (BL1 1TN). Free street parking (some disabled bays) in Le Mans Crescent after 6pm, (limited spaces). Online box office: Go here for what's on and follow the show links for tickets. Access 24 hours.

Know your theatre: The former West Yorkshire Playhouse sits on Quarry Hill, at one end of Leeds city centre. As West Yorkshire Playhouse it opened its doors in March 1990 under artistic director Jude Kelly. Donald Sinden had turned the first sod in November 1987, Judi Dench had laid the foundation stone in March 1989 and Albert Finney had then performed the topping-out ceremony in September that year. From the start, the Playhouse has encompassed classics and contemporary British and European drama and inter-national modern theatre, and has implemented a vigorous new writing policy as well as pioneering community engagement work. Many of its produc-tions are toured. The building houses The Quarry (750-850 seats) and The Courtyard (400). The Bramall Rock Void studio theatre, seating around 100, is a new under-ground space mainly for new work. After a impressive £15.8m, 12-month renovation and changing its name to Leeds Playhouse – the name of the original company that operated before the move to Quarry Hill – the 30-year-old theatre re-opened in October 2019. The elevated site previously presented access problems but now, as well as the new studio theatre, remodelled restaurant and bars, new city-facing entrance with cafe open from 8 am, new seating in the two main auditoria and excellent (and plentiful) new loos, offers new lifts to every level of the multi-level site and a general raising of standards throughout. Leeds Playhouse Address: Phone: Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP Box office 0113 213 7700. Groups call 0113 213 7700. General inquiries 0113 213 7700. Facilities: Access to the refurbished theatre is now at street level through a new cafe entrance. The new Quarry auditorium seating is extremely comfortable, and the auditorium has an excellent curved rake and huge stage. Sight lines are superb and disabled access is excellent throughout. The Courtyard Theatre is below stairs (or lift) and very similar in size and style to The Lowry's Quays. A large main restaurant and bar serve the whole building and there are lots of nooks and spaces scattered about for coffee or wine. Great view across the city centre Parking: This is a city centre theatre, so parking isn’t ideal. The nearest is opposite, at John Lewis, called Victoria Leeds – very expensive during the day but £3 after 5pm. Very good for evening shows but bad for matinees. Other car parks can be found in the city centre, some cheaper if you are OK to walk a little way. Online box office: Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice

Know your theatre: Storyhouse is a theatre, cinema, central library and renowned restaurant. The theatre is in a new extension, behind the screen of the original Odeon, and is enviably flexible – from an 800-seat proscenium for touring shows and concerts, to a 500-seat thrust stage for in-house productions. There’s also a 150-seat studio and a linked bar. A 100-seat independent cinema is suspended in a box above the kitchens, restaurant and bar. Add the major library, meeting rooms, story-telling spaces, informal performance areas and a big screen that can be lowered from the original proscenium arch and it is unique, amazing and multi award-winning. Storyhouse was built in 1936 as an imposing, Art Deco Odeon cinema. Despite a couple of conversions to multiplex screens, the main internal fabric and proscenium arch remained intact. The building was listed Grade II in 1989, but closed in 2007 and remained unused until Storyhouse was completed in 2017. Chester lacked not only a cinema but also a professional theatre following the demise of the Gateway in 2007, and in 2012 the decision was made to revitalise the buil ding . The structure couldn’t accommodate a theatre, so an office block was bought to make way for what would be an integrated cultural hub. Sto ryhouse thus became one of the UK’s largest regional arts projects and, at £37m, the biggest capital development in Chester for 50 years, opened by the Queen in 2018. Around 150 community groups use Story-house and it had more than a million customers in its first year. Storyhouse also runs the popular Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre each summer. Storyhouse, Chester Address: Storyhouse, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2HH Phone: All calls: 01244 409 113 (booking, option #1; £2.50 phone booking fee). Facilities: As we suggest above, Storyhouse is far more than a theatre and comes equipped with all the supposed essentials of modern cultural life, from The Kitchen restaurant (which also serves as a daytime cafe and snack bar) and Garret rooftop bar, to full disabled access and parking (check here ) . Parking: Many of the areas surrounding Storyhouse are pedestrianised, or have narrow streets with difficult access. The nearest car parks are: Market car park , (CH12BB), and Delamere Street car park (CH22AY) Online box office: Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice Picture: cPeter Cook

Know your theatre: The North West’s most startling and acclaimed producing theatre opened in 1976 in the equally-beautiful 1874 grade II-listed former Manchester Cotton Exchange. The unique, 750-seater glass and steel module is suspended on girders from four giant pillars supporting the roof of the massive Great Hall, and is one of the most innovative theatre spaces in the UK. In 1996 an IRA bomb damaged the building but the theatre – built on shock absorbers – survived intact. Around £32m was spent on rebuilding and a 120-seat studio theatre added. More famous-name actors have played the Royal Exchange’s intimate in-the-round stage than all other English reps combined, from Ben Kingsley to Helen Mirren, Albert Finney to Andy Serkis; while today Maxine Peak and Julie Hesmondhalgh are keen supporters. Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Michael Sheen, David Tennant and Andrew Garfield all appeared here, long before fame. Nowadays trading far less on starry names and knocking corners off its "posh" image, the Exchange works with local communities and new writers (its Bruntwood Playwriting Competition is the biggest in the UK) while still being a standard-bearer for regional theatres. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Address: Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann's Square, Manchester, M2 7DH Phone: Box office: 0161 833 9833 (also groups and schools), Reception 0161 833 9333. Facilities: As well as the magnificent theatre and studio, the Royal Exchange takes full advantage of its Great Hall setting with a restaurant, bar, gift shop and cafe. The mezzanine gallery also has interesting art displays Parking: Parking is subject to the usual city centre problems. On-street parking is minimal and car parks expensive. The Exchange is partnered with this Q-Park and offers a good discount if you validate your ticket at the theatre box office; closer (and more expensive) is the NCP car park over the Deansgate junction with Blackfriars St, under the Travelodge hotel. Online box office: Go here if you haven't booked online at the Exchange before, or here if you have. You need to open an account for online booking.

Know your theatre: Manchester’s newest theatre is also one of its most inspiring. Housed in a once semi-derelict Victor-ian mill in a back street in Ancoats, near Piccadilly Station, it is the brainchild of co-founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton. Both worked as actors in London, but wanted to create their own theatre and decided it would be in the north. Having found their unlikely venue they did much of the transformation work themselves, the result being a flexible space seating up to 120, with a cafe and bar and some parking. It’s all very friendly and personal, with the two artistic directors very much in evidence. Hope Mill opened in 2015, specialising in original productions of lesser-known musicals, and has quickly become one of the most acclaimed independent venues in the country. Several shows have transferred to the London fringe, including Yank!, Hair and Aspects of Love, while on the home stage, plays and cabaret have now joined musicals. Both founders were recently named as two of British theatre's top 100 movers and shakers by The Stage . Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester Address: Hope Mill Theatre, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester M4 7JA Phone: Box office: 0333 012 4963 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm), enquiries 0161 275 9141. Facilities: Tatty on the outside, eclectic on the inside, Hope Mill Theatre is open from 90 minutes before show time and as well as the 120-seat theatre (available for hire and as an increasingly popular wedding venue), has a small cafe/ restaurant with basic menus. See here for choices. All ground floor, so accessible. Parking: Free parking (but see below ) shared with other Hope Mill businesses, so spaces are subject to availability. On match and event days at the not-all-that nearby Etihad Stadium, car parking costs £5. Online box office: Go here for what's on and follow the show links for tickets.