Official Opening of the Theatre Royal Plymouth

From the collection of

The Box
Established in 1992, the South West Film & Television Archive collection spans from 1893 to the present day containing more than 250,000 items. Formed from a variety of depositors, including broadcast news and programmes material from the Westward and TSW archive. In 2018 the archive collection transferred to The Box in Plymouth.

Official Opening of the Theatre Royal Plymouth


Princess Margaret takes centre stage to unveil a brand new Theatre Royal.

Princess Margaret arrives at Plymouth's new Theatre Royal to unveil a plaque marking the official opening to the public. Janet Fookes MP and Theatre Director David Harris are interviewed. The Princess greets the cast from the first performance including actor Leonard Rossiter. American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney and Keith Harris and Orville give their opinions.

The Theatre Royal is situated on Royal Parade and was designed in 1977 by the Peter Moro Partnership. It was officially opened on 5 May 1982. A regeneration project revamped the front of house areas in 2013 and a new community performance space The Lab was built to add to the main auditorium of The Lyric and the smaller theatre aimed at new writing, The Drum. Plymouth has one of the largest Production and Community Learning Centres in the UK called TR2 offering workshop and wardrobe space, set construction, production and design and costume services for the theatre industry. TR2 operates teams that work on co-producing shows prior to their opening in London's West End.


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