Idealists with expertise in engineering and drama collaborate in Hinckley, Leicestershire, to create a mobile theatre that will take plays to theatre-starved towns in post-war austerity Britain.
Century Theatre, dubbed the Blue Box because of the colour of its donated gloss paint, takes to the road for the first time with a production of Othello. The theatre company works as a collective: each member earns £2 and is provided with his or her own bedsit in a wagon that forms part of a trailer convoy. Packed into a total of 25 trailers are a 225 seat performance space, a box office, dressing rooms and accommodation for a company of sixteen – kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and individual bedrooms – all towed by three enormous ex-military trucks.
The Manchester Guardian hails “an audacious adventure” that is taking plays to the people, and the Times Educational Supplement salutes the “stubbornly courageous conviction” of the enterprise.
The move north is a huge undertaking for the company, but in 1961 the Blue Box visits Keswick for the first time and opens for a summer season on the site of what is now Central Car Park.
In 1964 a permanent building to replace the Blue Box is first mentioned.
You can read more about those early days of the theatre in Keswick from some of the people who helped make it happen in our news post Our Trailer Story here.
No longer fit to tour, the Blue Box becomes a permanent resident on the Lakeside car park in Keswick. Various schemes for a new building come and go: one is for a theatre at Keswick’s redundant railway station; another is for a £2.6m new building in Bowness. Passionate supporters of a new theatre for Keswick refuse to give up.
Termed as “Mods and skinheads”, a group of 1,000 members of scooter clubs from all over the country descend on Keswick for a Scooter Rally.
Things begin to kick off between the more violent Mods and the police on Lakeside Car Park where Century Theatre stands, and as the town centre pubs are told to close their doors, a police inspector tells his officers, “hold the line or they’ll take the town.” Enclosed in the car park, the destructive mob turn their attention to the theatre, where chairman at the time, Lindsay Temple, heroically attempts to fend them off. But he is no match for them as petrol bombs are hurled at the theatre frontage and windows are smashed. The box office, foyer, bar and gallery are all wrecked, and the technician’s caravan home is burned down (luckily they are not in it at the time). A handful of Mods are arrested, heavily fined and warned their scooters will be impounded if they fail to pay.
A full-scale restoration appeal for the theatre is launched and supporters from across the country contribute towards getting the Blue Box back on its feet, with performances recommencing just days later.
1991
The Lake District Special Planning Board grants outline planning permission for a theatre on the Lakeside site in Keswick.
1993
Cumbria Theatre Trust set up to manage the new theatre project. The Foundation for Sport and the Arts offers a grant for £100,000, the first major financial contribution. Theatre Futures appointed as consultants.
1994
Lord Gowrie, then chairman of the Arts Council, drops in to Keswick by helicopter to report that the council will support an application for funds to the new National Lottery; Keswick Town Council contributes £50,000.
1996
Lottery application approved, fundraising begins to find the remaining £400,000. The Blue Box goes into retirement at Snibston Discovery Museum in Coalville, Leicestershire, a few miles from where it was built. Designs for the new theatre are submitted to the Lake District Special Planning Board and the National Lottery’s architecture panel.
Work begins on the new theatre; patron Dame Judi Dench celebrates by taking a ride in a JCB digger. After public consultation, the building is officially named Theatre by the Lake. The first Executive Director, Patric Gilchrist arrives to join TBTL’s first Artistic Director, Ian Forrest.
Joint Chairs Vicky Robinson and Graham Lamont officially open Theatre by the Lake on 19 August. The inaugural production is Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas.
TBTL operates all year round with a busy programme of events, attracting 120,000 people annually.
TBTL extends the building to create a bigger performance space for the studio and increase the ground floor bar.
In 2009 the theatre celebrates its 10 year anniversary. Pictured (top right) is a production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream from that year’s rep season.
TBTL continues to produce shows for its rep seasons in the Main House and Studio, and also for national touring, including Educating Rita starring Stephen Tompkinson and Jessica Johnson.
TBTL nominated and won Most Welcoming Theatre (North West region) in 2014/2015/2016/2017/2018.
Polly Lister (pictured right) nominated for Best Performance in a Play for Abigail’s Party 2015.
Katie Posner nominated for Best Director for My Mother Said I Never Should in 2019.
HRH Prince Charles visits TBTL and receives a woolly welcome from the stars of A Shepherds’ Life – a world premiere TBTL adaptation of James Rebanks’ bestselling rural memoir of farming life in Cumbria.
Lakeside Cafe & Restaurant is built to provide pre-show dining experiences overlooking the picturesque Derwentwater.
Alterations are made to the ground floor bar in 2018 to create Spotlight cafe and bar.
In March, TBTL is in the middle of Words by the Water festival of words and ideas and about to open their Spring co-production Malory Towers – directed by the marvellous Emma Rice – when the Covid pandemic hits and all theatres are closed.
The theatre staff hope to reopen the theatre in February 2021 but a third lockdown is announced and the team transfer all their efforts into putting their Spring season online to digital audiences. This inaugural venture into digital theatre is a success; the Spark Season celebrates work from local creatives with 68 freelancers employed, and over a 1000 audience members participating in a wide range of events.
Patron Dame Judi Dench pledges her support for Theatre by the Lake.
Together with English Touring Theatre (ETT), TBTL celebrates 60 years of live theatre in Keswick this summer with Trailer Story – a four-day outdoor festival housed on a travelling truck in Crow Park.
The theatre reopens its doors after 19 months in October 2021 with a co-production with Stephen Joseph Theatre and The Octagon, Bolton. Home, I’m Darling by Laura Wade garners fabulous audience feedback and reviews.