The First 40 Years: 1964

This is part of a series of articles looking at the first 40 years of the Stephen Joseph Theatre (1955 to 1995) from the perspective of the theatre's Archive. The articles were first published in the SJT Circular newsletter.

1964: Scarborough Theatre Trust

by Simon Murgatroyd

In 1964, the company which runs the Stephen Joseph Theatre to this day was formed following a period of uncertainty about the future of Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.

When Stephen Joseph founded Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre in 1955, it was run under the auspices of Studio Theatre Ltd, which Stephen had founded the same year; for most of the first decade, media reports referred to the Studio Theatre company rather than the Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre company.

Studio Theatre Ltd was one of the means Stephen used to raise finances for his new venture, issuing £1,000 of shares. A rare example of a share certificate, donated to the theatre for its 60th anniversary, accompanies this article.

In 1962, however, Studio Theatre Ltd - along with the majority of its assets - moved to Stoke-on-Trent with the opening of the UK’s first in-the-round venue, the Victoria Theatre. This was to prove problematic.

Stephen initially believed he could run both the Scarborough and Stoke ventures under Studio Theatre Ltd, but with the move came a substantial cut in subsidy from the Arts Council.

Realising he barely had enough money to keep the new venture going, Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre was cut loose from Studio Theatre Ltd with no Arts Council support.

In order to keep Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre running, another of Stephen’s companies - Theatre In The Round Ltd - took over Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre. However, in order to remain financially vi- able, the winter seasons were cut and the summer seasons shortened.

In 1964, a specific company was incorporated - Scarborough Theatre Trust - to run Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and help put the company onto a firmer footing. This company still runs the theatre today and excerpts from the original Articles of Association can be found on this page.

Scarborough Theatre Trust was incorporated as a company on 11 August 1964 by Herbert Simpson, Son & Bennett in Leicester; the theatre manager, David Campton, was from Leicester hence the use of a business from there rather than Scarborough.

The Company was established to promote, maintain, improve and advance education, particularly by the production of educational plays and the encouragement of the Arts, includ- ing the arts of drama, mime, dance, singing and music, and to formulate, prepare and establish schemes therefor provided that all objects of the Company shall be of a charitable nature.

It should be pointed out the Company has over the past five decades not encouraged much in the way of mime! But then it’s probably over-achieved in the realm of encouraging drama.

The initial board consisted of Stephen Joseph, David Campton, Kenneth and Margaret Boden, Alfred Bradley, Maurice Plows and Stephen’s house-keeper Veronica Pemberton-Billing.

It’s perhaps interesting to note that Alan Ayckbourn is not part of this list, but at this point, he was no longer part of either Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre or the Victoria Theatre, having left the latter to concentrate on writing during the summer of 1964. Alan would be invited to join the Scarborough Theatre Trust board in the years following Stephen Joseph’s death in 1967.

Although the company was formed to be of a ‘charitable nature’, Scarborough Theatre Trust did not actually become registered as a charity until 18 September 1967.

No sooner had the company been formed though, then its end seemed imminent. At the end of the 1965 summer season, Stephen Joseph announced Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre was to close and Scarborough Theatre Trust’s sole aim was to find a new home for the company, preferably not in Scarborough.

As has been related in other articles (also available from the Circle website), Ken Boden worked tirelessly to restore the company and on 12 August 1966, Stephen Joseph - now terminally ill - stepped down as Chairman and handed over control of the company with all debts excused to a new board.

The company immediately began steps to relaunch professional theatre at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre during summer 1967 and which has continued unbroken through to the present day.

Following Stephen’s death, it was the Scarborough Theatre Trust which made the fateful decision in 1972 to appoint Alan Ayckbourn as Artistic Director of the company; a decision which in no small measure ensured it survival and allowed it to thrive.

Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.