Library

Within an existing 1930s building, adjoining the Lyceum theatre. Originally designed as a lecture hall on a flat floor, the subterranean hall was used for drama within months. However legal difficulties precluded payment for tickets and the experiment soon folded. During the war the it was used as an air-raid shelter and by 1947, the legal situation having been rectified, dressing rooms were added and the Library Theatre began its career. It had inherent problems with poor sightlines and a small stage and in 1961 the theatre was redesigned. A plain but rather attractive proscenium with a Corinthian column each side was replaced with a utilitarian proscenium arch typical of the sixties. A foyer was constructed at the rear, the seating was put on a permanent stepped rake and the stage enlarged. This resulted in the loss of 140 seats. A technical gallery was also introduced above the foyer. The theatre has been little altered since and is now in need of further updating.

The auditorium contains seventeen rows of seats, with good sightlines in a fairly low-ceilinged rectangular hall. The décor is Art Deco in style, sparse, but quite attractive. Carpeting, new seats and an imaginative decoration scheme would transform the theatre at relatively low cost. The backstage area is cramped and the grid too low.