The Jubilee Theatre, is a

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building theatre. It opened in 1899 in St Nicholas Hospital,

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of New ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The Victorian

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

was opened on 30 May 1900. It features a proscenium arch of Doulton tiles by W.J. Neatby, depicting two pre-Raphaelite figures which face east and west, as the theatre faces true north and south. Originally, the theatre had a sprung dance floor made from

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

and a full sized

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...

, and was used for both shows and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

s. So that

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s could be shown in the theatre a projection room was added to the back of the building in 1920 housing at least two

movie projector A movie projector is an optics, opto-mechanics, mechanical device for displaying Film, motion picture film by projecting it onto a movie screen, screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices ...

s. Two

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

s lead into the theatre from the main corridor. The

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...

s at the hospital were constantly separated; men would enter using the door on the left, and women the right door. Rules dictated that men stayed on the left of the auditorium and women on the right, and were only allowed together for dancing. On the men's side there is a door out to a corridor which was previously used as the 'Gentlemen's Smoking Promenade' and is now used as a fire corridor.

Current usage

Currently the theatre is primarily used by three groups: Juniper Productions a drama group for sufferers of

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

difficulties, which was founded in 1998 First Act Theatre, a youth theatre company who have operated from the theatre since 1991 And Stepping Out A drama group

Notable actors

The Jubilee Theatre has been a stage to a number of actors during their early career, including: *

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress. Her notable roles include Rebecca Hopkins in ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1999–2000), Kate Mitchell in BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2002–2005), Izzie Redpath in '' W ...

Donna Air Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, television presenter and media personality. Early life and education Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979, in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née ...

* Dale Meeks *

Cheryl Tweedy Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...

Michael O'Riordan Michael O'Riordan ( ga, Mícheál Ó Ríordáin; 12 November 1917 – 18 May 2006) was the founder of the Communist Party of Ireland (3rd) and also fought with the Connolly Column in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Ea ...

References

External links

Juniper Productions

First Act Theatre

Jubilee Theatre Photographs
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Theatres in Newcastle upon Tyne