Birmingham has a long history of theatre and entertainment with most theatres in place for over 100 years. The main theatres are:
The Hippodrome (including the Patrick Centre) - If there’s a massive West End production in town, you can be sure its destination will be the Birmingham Hippodrome. Originally built as assembly rooms in 1895 and refurbished back in 2001 it has a very glamorous auditorium which works beautifully for such productions of Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserable. It also takes in regular visit from the Welsh National Opera and has been, of course, the home to the Birmingham Royal Ballet since 1990 (which was formally the displaced Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet), their annual production of The Nutcracker is generally considered one of the finest in the world.
The New Alexandra - Opened in 1901 but rebuilt in 1935 with an Art Deco auditorium. A few years back this seemed to be the place to go for celebrity psychics et al rather than real theatre and I always thought of it as the slightly shabby little sister of the Hippodrome. But recently the quality of shows has improved and during the last year I have been to the Alex more times than the Hippo. The bar area and foyer were refurbished this year. Recently we've seen Jersey Boys, Dead Simple, Guys and Dolls, and of course Hairspray. Coming up in the new year is Footloose, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Noel Cowards Private Lives.
The Rep (including The Studio and The Door)- Laurence Olivier, Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Branagh and John Gielgud are just a few of the theatrical legends who have trodden the boards at the Birmingham Rep and I consider this the "serious" theatre. Not that the others don't put on straight plays or The Rep lighter stuff but if you are seeing Shakespeare or Chekhov in Brum you will more than likely be here. Again this has had a recent refurb as part of the Library of Birmingham construction. They regularly have back stage tours which I recommend, fascinating to see how the scenery and costume department work, last time I did this they were set up for Twelve Angry Men with Martin Shaw (brummie) and Robert Vaughn, the best thing was seeing Robert's prop note book had his script on it, well he is 83!
The Town Hall and The Symphony Hall - Also get an honorary mention as whilst not actually "theatres" they do have some interesting productions, such as classic silent movies with live orchestral accompaniment or concept productions like The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer, which played in 2014 and starred the amazing John Malkovich, it is about a real life serial killer whose story is told as a ghostly posthumous book tour interspersed with classical music and Sopranos arias . To quote the Huffington Post "This is one of the weirdest cultural mash-ups since Hannibal Lecter had a cooking show on Nickelodeon. (Oh, wait, that's not true.)"
So that is the big 4 but now we move on to the smaller stuff which is arguably the more interesting.
The Crescent Theatre - Giving amateur theatre a good name for decades, The Crescent Theatre is a small but essential part of Birmingham's theatre scene. The Crescent has been in its current canalside location in Sheepcote Street since the late 1990s, when it was reopened by Celia Imrie, and has long operated its own in-house company that stages most of the productions. In the last 18 months I have seen The Graduate, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Steel Mangolias, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Sister Act. After the Graduate there was a Q&A with the Director and Actors, of course most of the questions were about the naked scenes, (yes even as amateurs they went the whole hog) but it also confirmed how passionate the team are about their craft, the only way these people are amateur is that they aren't paid, they even have a dialect coach for when they do the American plays, this is certainly no regular am-dram. They regularly holding open auditions for anybody who wants to get involved, they also offer training for behind-the-scenes roles including sound and stage design. Featuring a large 300-plus seat auditorium and a smaller studio space with no fixed seating. Past productions have included work from the likes of Martin McDonagh and David Mamet. I have a ticket for the Amercian dinner theatre classic Death of a Salesman in January which I am looking forward to seeing.
Blue Orange Theatre - The Blue Orange Theatre occupies a rather unique space on Birmingham’s theatrical map. Unlike the many theatres that have celebrated 50 or even 100 years of thespian excellence, Mark Webster’s brainchild can’t yet lay claim to even five years’ existence. But in that short space of time, it’s made a considerable impact on the amateur theatre scene. Opened in 2011 in Great Hampton Street in the Jewellery Quarter the main room of The Blue Orange Theatre has an ‘in the round’ studio design, while there’s also a rehearsal space and a small café bar, all colour coded to the building’s name. Suiting its newly born status, Blue Orange is committed to presenting evenings of new writing at least twice a year, holding a number of sessions for writers to work on their scripts before putting them into production. Rivalling The Crescent Theatre for productivity, Webster’s in-house company often tours across the Midlands and beyond.
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| The Old Rep and 2 doors down the Electric Cinema |
The Theatre at the MAC - While some arts centres can be quite limited in what artistic disciplines they feature in their programme, mac doesn’t discriminate, and offers everything from theatre and comedy to cinema, dance, and visual art. Situated on the edge of Cannon Hill Park, it’s been at the centre of Birmingham’s arts community for decades, and once counted Oscar-nominated Mike Leigh as one of its resident theatre directors. Simply put, anyone interested in the fringes of modern theatre should make the mac one of their first ports of call, as both the main theatre and smaller Hexagon space give room to some of the most cutting edge (and, often, bizarre) theatre companies working today. Up coming productions include Dalloway, No Such Thing as A Fish (QI Ltd) and Austentatious an improvised Jane Austen novel which I am certainly going to see.
Old Joint Stock Theatre - Opened in 2006 and holding around a hundred people, the theatre is in the Old Joint Stock pub and accessed by making your way to the stairs at the back of the main room. As such, it's not the place for performers afraid of being up close and personal with their audience. As well as stripped-back plays, you’ll find touring comics making stop-offs on their way to the Edinburgh Fringe. Seeking non-cultural sustenance? Check out the pies and a fine selection of ales, including Fullers London Pride and ESB.
The Drum - Sitting on the former site of the Aston Hippodrome on the edge of the city centre, The Drum Arts Centre has a programme that couldn’t be more different from that of its previous resident. Instead of traditional variety fare, The Drum’s two auditoriums – a 350-seat main room and the smaller Andy Hamilton studio, named after the popular saxophonist – are geared specifically towards providing a forum for black and minority ethnic people to be heard. The result is a programme of politically engaged theatre, socially relevant spoken word, subversive comedy and provocative art in the upstairs gallery, which feels as if it’s all developed naturally from the local Perry Barr, Aston, Newtown and Lozells communities that the venue has become a key part of. Regular visitors Benjamin Zephaniah and musician Courtney Pine were recently made patrons of The Drum, using their influence to help raise funds for a significant refit of the venue planned in the next few years.
Stan's Cafe - You might not expect a drab former metal pressings factory in the Jewellery Quarter to house Birmingham’s most adventurous theatre company, but then Stan’s Café (pronounced Stan’s ‘Kaff’) don’t like to do things traditionally. Formed by James Yarker in the early 90s, Stan’s Café position themselves on the experimental side of theatre, thinking beyond the normal theatrical set-up of an audience sat facing a group of actors on a stage. Located in the AE Harris Building it has been used as a location for events at the annual Fierce Festival, along with work from the endlessly inventive Birmingham Opera Company. AE Harris isn’t the most comfortable of spaces and you might want to bring a coat if you’re watching something during winter time, but these are small prices to pay when you know you’ll be watching exciting new theatre that defies easy description. Although Stan’s Café’s increased profile means they now take their work around the world, the A.E. Harris Building remains their true home.
