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Dateline: 27th October, 2009
Possible Library Theatre Move Confirmed Manchester City Council has announced that it will be investigating the possibility of moving the Library Theatre Company into the former Theatre Royal on Peter Street as its preferred option for the future of the company when the Central Library is refurbished next year, subject to an agreement being reached by the current owners of the building. As we reported in June, LTC has been exploring the idea of a move to the 1845 Theatre Royal, which became a cinema in 1921 and is currently a night club called M-Two, but was seeking the support of the Council for their plan. The company has outgrown its home in the basement of Central Library where it has resided since its formation in 1952 and is seeking more space for performances and community work as well as a larger auditorium. The move to Theatre Royal, Manchester's oldest surviving theatre building, would both provide the company with the facilities it requires and restore the grade II listed building into a working theatre. MCC's Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Mike Amesbury, said that the move "would offer a great opportunity for the Library Theatre Company to develop and expand both its range of performances and its valuable community and education work, while also opening up this Grade II listed building and returning the oldest theatre in Manchester to its former glory." Central Library is due to close temporarily next summer as part of a £155 million scheme to refurbish the town hall complex, including the Library, during which time the company will perform at other venues around the city. Productions will run as normal at the current venue until June 2010. Library Theatre artistic director Chris Honer said of the potential move, "The Central Library has been a wonderful venue for us for over half a century but the prospect of a move to the Theatre Royal offers the Library Theatre Company a marvellous opportunity for the future. What a great story it would be to be able to turn the Theatre Royal back into a theatre." David Chadderton
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