The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

's most prestigious tournament, the World Snooker Championship, which has been held annually at the venue since 1977. Its name is a reference to the local steel industry. In May 2022 plans were unveiled to build a new 3,000-seater venue nearby with a bridge connecting the two buildings.

History

The Crucible Theatre was built by

M J Gleeson M J Gleeson Group plc founded in 1903, is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and has two distinct businesses Gleeson Homes and Gleeson Strategic Land. History The business was founded by Michael Joseph Gleeson, the official date given by the ...

and opened in 1971. It replaced the Sheffield Repertory Theatre in Townhead Street. In 1967 Colin George, the founding artistic director of the Crucible, recommended a

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...

for Sheffield, inspired by theatres created by Sir Tyrone Guthrie. Tanya Moiseiwitsch, who had been involved in designing Guthrie's theatres, was recruited to design Gleeson's theatre as well. The architects

Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects Aedas is an architectural firm with eleven International offices founded by the Welsh architect Keith Griffiths. Aedas provides services in architecture, interior design, urban design, masterplanning and graphic design. It was established in 2002 ...

were employed and the building itself began to take shape in 1969. It was completed in two years, with the opening performance in November 1971. The opening night performances were ''Fanfare'', an evening's entertainment showing children acting in an improvised scene,

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''Swansong'' with

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

and Edward Petherbridge, and a music hall finale with a Sheffield brass band. This demonstrated the versatility of the stage, which has since been adapted for dance and musical performances, as well as classical and modern theatre. The Crucible Theatre also hosts touring productions and the World Snooker Championship. The audience sits on three sides but no member is more than 22 yards (20 metres) from the performer. Consequently, although it seats 980 people the spectator has an intimate relationship with the activity on stage. Colin George and the administrator David Brayshaw persuaded the

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of ...

to finance the building of a professional studio theatre – the 400 seat Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, which opened with the main house. In 2001, the Crucible was awarded the

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

'Theatre of the Year Award'. It is a Grade II

listed building 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 I ...

. The building went through a £15 million refurbishment between 2007 and late 2009 – opening during that period only for the 2008 and 2009 World Snooker Championships. The Crucible reopened as a theatre on 11 February 2010 with a production of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's ''

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, '' Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response in ...

'', with the official reopening by the

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...

on 18 February 2010. In May 2022 plans were unveiled for a new World Snooker Championship venue that would be attached to the existing Crucible Theatre building via a bridge. The new venue is to host up to 3,000 spectators. Snooker promoter,

Barry Hearn Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sporting events promoter and the founder and President of promotions company Matchroom Sport. Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports including snooker, darts, ...

, had confirmed talks were underway with Sheffield Council in April 2022. Hearn added that the tournament could move elsewhere if the new project is not supported but, “the Crucible name is synonymous with snooker globally... so the name has to remain.” The new building has been designed by the architect James Burland, the architect behind the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

, along with Arup. The building will also house a snooker museum.

Theatre

Under the distinguished leadership of a succession of artistic directors, The Crucible is a producing theatre, meaning shows are designed and rehearsed in-house. Productions are normally overseen by the Sheffield Theatres Group which also comprises the smaller Playhouse, housed in the same complex, and the large capacity neighbouring receiving venue the Lyceum.

Sports venue

World Snooker Championship 2013 day 1 session 3

Sheffield, the Crucible Theatre from above - geograph

The World Snooker Championship tournament has been played annually at the Crucible since 1977, and the venue has been lauded for creating a special feeling of excitement around the event. Sports journalist Peter Mason, in ''The Guardian'', has argued that while the physical aspects of the Crucible are "greatly underwhelming", there is an undeniably special atmosphere inside the auditorium which means that "against all the modernist odds this relentlessly forward-looking theatre appears to have become infused with memories of the past every bit as easily as if it were a creaking old music hall dating back to the 19th century". The

Ladies World Snooker Championship The World Women's Snooker Championship (formerly known as the Women's World Open Championship from 1976 to 1981 and the World Ladies Snooker Championship from 1983 to 2018) is the leading tournament on the World Women's Snooker Tour. The reigning ...

was also held at the Crucible between 1998 and 2003 but was eventually withdrawn due to financial difficulties. The venue has also hosted championships of other indoor

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

s, such as

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and squash.

References

Bibliography

*''Stirring Up Sheffield - an insider's account of the battle to build the Crucible Theatre, Colin George & Tedd George, Wordville (2021),'' ISBN 978-1-8384036-2-1 *''Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: A Model Theatre in the Tradition of the Juvenile Drama'', Michael D Everett, MDE Pubns (1981), *''The acoustical design and performance of the Sheffield Crucible Theatre'', D. J. Oldham, Dept. of Building Science, Faculty of Architectural Studies, University of Sheffield (1973), ,

External links