The Library Theatre

The Stephen Joseph Theatre’s life began in 1955 in the seaside town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire. It was not the most obvious home for the country’s first professional theatre in the round company, but its founder rarely opted for the obvious in anything he did.

Stephen Joseph (for a biography, click here) was passionate about new writing and supporting new playwrights. He was also enthused by theatre in the round which he had seen briefly in the UK and more extensively whilst studying in the USA. He believed theatre in the round offered a practical, exciting and financially viable way of presenting new drama. He just needed a venue.

Stephen initially searched for a venue for his idea in London, but found nowhere suitable. It was only while running a weekend playwriting course in Ravenscar, North Yorkshire, that a solution was offered. The concert room at Scarborough Library was suggested as a venue and Stephen (apparently riding his motor bike to Scarborough through dangerously heavy snow) came to the town, met the Chief Librarian William Smettem and saw the concert room for the first time. A decision was made and Stephen’s recently formed company Studio Theatre Ltd had found its first home, where it would reside for the first 20 years of its life.

Rehearsals for the first season took place in London, funded by the sale of Stephen’s motorbike, before the company moved to Scarborough for an eight week summer season. The Library Theatre opened on 14^th July with a season of four new plays by four new writers (three of whom were women). Obviously every aspect of this was a risk, the theatre was competing against a town replete with theatre entertainment during the summer months, it was staging unknown plays by unknown writers and it was offering theatre in the round, practically unknown in the UK at a time when the theatres were dominated by the proscenium arch. An early letter to the Scarborough Evening News illustrated the mixed reaction to the new theatre.

“Sir, one factor of utmost importance. Theatre in the Round has no settings. How can a modern audience, conditioned to the detailed scenic sets of film and television, be expected to enjoy a play performed in limbo?…. The directors of the Theatre in the Round have only themselves to blame if the audience, cheated of the spectacle, prefers to spend its shillings on the latest cinema-scope epic.”
Reginald Copper, 17 Lady Edith’s Avenue

Stephen was determined to make theatre in the round work, despite the limitations of his initial venture. The Library Theatre was basic on every level: the single toilet was shared by both company and audience, the changing area was miniscule and the stage only had two entrances – one of which was also the audience entrance. The seating was built on portable rostra specially designed by Stephen Joseph and was designed to be disassembled relatively quickly and easily. While a lighting box was eventually installed, facilities remained limited throughout the company's 20 year tenure at the venue. With little money to fund the venture, Stephen was dependent on all the help he could get and found an enthusiastic supply in the local amateur dramatic scene. Members of Scarborough Theatre Guild were heavily involved in front of house and behind the scenes work, most prominent of whom was Ken Boden, a local insurance agent, who was involved in the theatre from the start and would go on to play a pivotal part in the theatre’s future.

Within two weeks of opening, the theatre was in trouble. Stephen had calculated he needed 100 people a night to break even, but audiences had not risen above 75 and were frequently far fewer. Not helped by a blisteringly hot summer, Stephen made an impassioned plea to the local media for support. The future of the fledgling company was in the balance and one thing contrived to save it. The weather. The heatwave broke and the rain fell, drawing crowds into The Library Theatre and ensuring the theatre was able to survive its first season. At the end of the summer, a small loss had been made but it was enough to encourage Stephen to book the venue for the following year.

It should never be assumed that Scarborough was thus set as the permanent home of the company. Stephen had no particular loyalty to the town and over the next few years toured the company to various other towns – largely without a municipal theatres – in the hope that a town council might support his desire to have a permanent theatre in the round built.

By 1957, the theatre had become firmly established in Scarborough with good houses leading Stephen to explore the possibility of a winter season in the town. He had also made the decision to incorporate more established work and writers into his season to supplement the new writing – although the emphasis was always on the latter. That same year, a young acting stage manager by the name of Alan Ayckbourn also joined the company.

The Library Theatre was not without controversy though, most notably when Stephen Joseph decided in 1958 to stop playing the National Anthem at every performance; the first regional theatre to do so. An incensed minority – including the Mayor of Scarborough - unleashed a torrent of complaints which caught the attention of the national media and would cause debate and ructions over several years. Of far longer term significance was the fruit of Stephen’s support of new writing. In December 1958, Harold Pinter directed the second production of The Birthday Party for a Studio Theatre Ltd tour, following the play’s initial mauling in London. The success of the play apparently restored Pinter’s faith in both the play and his abilities. Acting in the production was Alan Ayckbourn, who had also just had his first play commissioned. In 1959, The Square Cat received its world premiere, quickly followed in the winter season by Alan’s second play Love After All.

By 1961, The Library Theatre could lay claim to being the country’s first professional and permanent theatre in the round company although its future suddenly looked insecure when Newcastle-under-Lyme expressed interest in supporting Stephen creating a purpose-built theatre in the round in the town. This would eventually lead to the formation of the Victoria Theatre in 1962, the country’s first permanent theatre in the round and the new home of Studio Theatre Ltd.

A new company, Scarborough Theatre Trust, was created to ensure the survival of The Library Theatre in Scarborough, although its future looked bleak when most of Studio Theatre Ltd’s Art Council subsidy followed the company to the Victoria Theatre. The winter seasons in Scarborough were abandoned and the summer seasons drastically shortened, although Stephen was increasingly convinced the Library was not a suitable home for the theatre. The theatre continued despite its limitations and in 1965 Alan Ayckbourn premiered his seventh play, Meet My Father. Directed by Stephen Joseph, the play was quickly picked up by the producer Peter King. It would open two years later in London under the title Relatively Speaking and help establish Alan Ayckbourn as one of the 20^th century’s most important playwrights.

At this point Ken Boden stepped in and persuaded Stephen to let him stage an amateur in the round season in 1966, hoping to keep the popular venue going. It was a good decision as the Council finally agreed to provide more solid support for the theatre in 1967 and professional theatre was able to resume in 1967, although by then Stephen was too ill to play an active role in the theatre’s life. Stephen tragically died on 4 October 1967 at his Scarborough home, aged just 46, and for the next few year, the theatre was run on a day to day basis by Ken Boden with the aid of people who had been influenced by and worked with Stephen such as Alan Ayckbourn, Alfred Bradley and Rodney Wood. In 1972, Alan Ayckbourn became the Artistic Director of the company (a position he would hold until his retirement in 2008), ensuring Stephen Joseph’s legacy would be preserved. His first years were met by the enormous challenge of trying to ensure the theatre’s immediate survival.

The facilities at the Library Theatre had always been limited and Stephen never realistically believed Scarborough’s public library could be a permanent home for the company. As a result, Stephen was constantly looking for new venues for the theatre. By 1962, Stephen had become frustrated by the position of the company; unable to find a new home for the company, limited by the Library facilities and feeling Scarborough Borough Council was unsupportive of the theatre, Stephen delivered the first of several ultimatums for the theatre to be supported. By 1965, Stephen felt his pleas for support had fallen on deaf ears and he announced there would be no season in 1966 (indeed, judging by Stephen’s book Theatre In The Round, it can be construed Stephen believed the Library Theatre was over). Scarborough Theatre Trust was retained but with the task of finding a new home for the company, even if it was likely to be outside Scarborough). Ken Boden, persuaded Stephen to let him run an amateur season in 1966, by which point Scarborough Borough Council agreed to financially support the theatre for the 1967 season. Professional theatre resumed but the search for a new home became even more pronounced, particularly in the aftermath of Stephen’s death. From 1967 to 1972, the Trust considered venues throughout the town to no avail and even faced competition from an effort to restore Scarborough’s Opera House. Everything came to a head in 1974, when the Council refused the company permission to extend its operation to 40 weeks a year. Feeling the Council was not supportive, Alan made it clear he would take the company away from the town; within months the situation had been exacerbated by the Library declaring the company had to leave the venue, citing the Concert Room was needed for “cultural purposes.”

With its future uncertain, even the fact the theatre had the highest percentage attendance of any provincial theatre in England in 1975 was of little comfort. With no sign of a permanent home, the Council stepped in and offered a temporary home at the old boys’ grammar school beneath Valley Bridge (better known as Westwood). A promise was made to move forward with a purpose built venue, while the company moved to Westwood for no more than three years. The company moved at the end of the summer, knowing they had less than two months to prepare a new theatre for the winter season.

To learn more about The Library Theatre, click here to download a detailed history of the Library Theatre's first year of operation in 1955.