As part of Nottingham Light Night 2019 the Lace Market Theatre was offering behind the scenes tours and as this is a local theatre that I keep meaning to visit but haven’t got around to (I promise I’ll go see something there this year!) we thought it would be a nice change of pace to the normal Light Night activities.
A registered charity the Lace Market Theatre is a small amateur theatre that was founded in the 1940s originally as the Nottingham Theatre Club and moved to its current location in the Lace Market area of Nottingham in the 1970s. A Grade II listed building, built in 1761 as a chapel it later became a school where William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was one of the pupils and after that a lace warehouse.
The tour didn’t take very long but was really interesting. As there was a rehearsal going on we went down into the props room, saw the Green Room and dressing rooms. We then were able to sit in and watch a bit of the rehearsal for their next play. They put on plays most of the year (check the website for details) and it is run entirely by members in their free time. Timothy West, Prunella Scales, Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes are patrons of the theatre. We certainly enjoyed the tour, especially the friendly welcome and it’s definitely something a little different to do during Light Night.
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