Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre: 1958

This page contains a more detailed guide to significant events concerning Scarborough's Theatre in the Round at the Library in 1958. This year is notable for the start of the national anthem controversy after Stephen Joseph drops it from daily performance. An in-depth timeline of the story can be found here.

1958

1958 At A Glance

Artistic Director
Stephen Joseph

Summer Season Dates
19 June - 22 September

Performances
Mon to Sat at 8pm
Wed at 2.30pm

Ticket Prices
5/- (25p) & 3/6 (17.5p)
Concessions: 2/6 (12.5p)
Saturdays: 3/6 (17.5p)
Matinees: 2/6 (12.5p)

Winter Season Dates
15 December - 3 January

Performances
Mon to Sat at 7.30pm
Wed at 2.30pm

Ticket Prices
4/6 (22.5p) & 3/- (15p)
Concessions: 2/6 (12.5p)
Mondays: 3/- (15p)
Matinees: 2/6 (12.5p)
  • Stephen Joseph decides to stop the playing of the national anthem at every performance; he believes Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre is the first regional theatre in the UK to do this. A detailed timeline of the national anthem controversy can be found here.
  • The Library Committee queries Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre serving refreshments after performances. After much debate, Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre is allowed to serve coffee and cakes, but not sausage rolls!
  • David Campton becomes the first writer at Studio Theatre Ltd to be subsidised by the Arts Council of Great Britain, when he receives a grant of £500 to enable him to carry on writing.
  • 17 February: Studio Theatre Ltd begins its first touring season with a production of Phedre starring Margaret Rawlings. It will tour for two months including a visit to Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre from 17 March. Despite the Studio Theatre Club in London having formally been closed by Stephen the previous year, the tour opens at the Mahatma Gandhi Hall in London advertised as the Studio Theatre Club.
  • May: Stephen Joseph adjudicates the Yorkshire Drama Festival held in The Library Theatre.
  • June: The summer brochure does not advertise Marivaux's Love & Chance as a double bill. However, when it emerges the new translation of the play by J.W. James will only run for 70 minutes, it is decided to produce it with Pirandello's The Man With A Flower In His Mouth. The plays are advertised as having a very specific interval of 3 minutes between them!
  • June: Ken Boden's wife, Margaret, takes over the running of Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre box office.
  • 13 June: An open rehearsal of Who Cares? by Leo Lehman takes place at the Chenil Galleries, Chelsea, under the auspices of the Studio Theatre Club; despite the club having formally been closed in 1957.
  • 19 June: The summer season begins with Leo Lehman's Who Cares?
  • From 19658, classical music is played prior to each performance with Stephen Joseph specific pieces for each show which are detailed in the programmes.
  • The Library is unable to provide catering services during 1958 leading Stephen Joseph to turn to local suppliers; the Green Lizard Snack Bar and Cafe during the summer and Jaconelli' of Scarborough during the winter season.
  • 23 June: The first in a series of letters is published in the Scarborough Evening News condemning Stephen Joseph's decision to stop playing the national anthem at every performance.
  • 14 July: The BBC broadcasts a programme about theatre in the round which includes Stephen Joseph. Broadcast on network three from 7.15pm to 7.45pm, it is broadcast live in the Exhibition / Large Lecture Room on the first floor of Scarborough Library for the public.
  • With unreserved seating, Stephen Joseph notes this is causing problems with the increasing popularity of the venue; programmes ask audiences not to leave single seats free.
  • September: The regional media report that whilst Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre has not replicated the success of the 1957 season, it has still played to 80% houses and been deemed a success.
  • September: Following the conclusion of the summer season on 13 September, the Studio Theatre Ltd company embarks on an autumn tour to several venues.
  • In conjunction with the Arts Council of Great Britain, Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre offers travel subsidises to groups of eight or more travelling to the theatre from outside Scarborough.
  • 15 December: The winter season is launched with Jean Jacques Bernard's Martine. The short season will also include David Campton's Ring Of Roses and Valentin Kataev's Squaring The Circle.
  • For Ring of Roses, the programmes credits the bananas as "kindly lent by Fyffes."
  • December: Stephen Joseph commissions Alan Ayckbourn to write his first professional play after he complains about the quality of the role he is playing in David Campton's Ring Of Roses; for many years the offending play is reported as John Van Druten's Bell, Book & Candle as Ayckbourn did not wish to offend his colleague, Campton.
  • December: Harold Pinter rehearses The Birthday Party at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre with the Studio Theatre Ltd company. This will be only the second production of the play and will mark the professional directorial debut of the author.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.