Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre: Plan
During 2025, theatre historian Simon Murgatroyd organised an exhibition celebrating the 70th anniversary of Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.As part of the exhibition, he drew up a layout of The Library Theatre utilising period architectural plans of the library and Stephen Joseph's own designs for the performance space. This plan of The Library Theatre is reproduced below alongside images of the various room.
Please note, this plan is copyright of Simon Murgatroyd and should not be reproduced or stored in any form without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre
Descriptions in bold represent the rooms as they were known in 1955 by Scarborough Library.Descriptions in italics refer to the name of spaces or use by Studio Theatre Ltd when running Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.
The Concert Room was the main performance space and held 248 people in an (approximate) theatre-in-the-round configuration. The two entrances led to the foyer (Crush Hall) and the dressing room (Small Lecture Room).
The Exhibition and Lecture Room was predominantly used for box office, refreshments and an exhibition of the history of theatre design and history by Stephen Joseph. However for the 1960 / 1974 / 1975 winter seasons, it was used in place of the Concert Room as a performance space in-the-round (1960) and three-sided (1974 / 1975). The four doors led to the foyer (Crush Hall), the dressing room (Small Lecture Room), the toilets and - out of bounds to the public - to the Head Librarian's office.
In 1955, the lighting and sound booth was located opposite toilets between the Concert Room and the Small Lecture Room. This room had no view onto the stage and the Concert Room was closed off by a heavy curtain making lighting and sound cues extremely difficult. Several years later, the company gained access to a space above the toilets and were able to punch a hole in the wall for a window located approximately by the 'T' in Toilets on the map.
Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre Images
These images highlight the spaces from the floorplan above. Sadly, there is only a limited number of photographs of Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre which have survived in archive. Click on an image to enlarge.
The acting space in Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre as it appeared in its opening season in 1955. The image was used on a promotional postcard and is likely to be the first production, Circle of Love.
Copyright: Studio Theatre Ltd
Holding: Borthwick Institute for Archives
Do not reproduce images without permission of the copyright holder.
Copyright: Studio Theatre Ltd
Holding: Borthwick Institute for Archives
Do not reproduce images without permission of the copyright holder.
The male dressing room at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre was located in the Small Lecture Room. It was actually divided into both male and female dressing rooms as well as costume storage and administration (and anything else needed!)
Copyright: Haydonning Ltd
Holding: Borthwick Institute for Archives
Do not reproduce images without permission of the copyright holder.
Copyright: Haydonning Ltd
Holding: Borthwick Institute for Archives
Do not reproduce images without permission of the copyright holder.
Article and plan by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce the article or images without permission of the copyright holder.