The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to

crucible steel Crucible steel is steel made by melting pig iron, cast iron, iron, and sometimes steel, often along with sand, glass, ashes, and other fluxes, in a crucible. Crucible steel was first developed in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE in Sout ...

, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. In addition to regular

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...

performances, the theatre also serves as a sports venue, having hosted the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

annually since 1977. The ''Guardian'' newspaper has called the Crucible the "spiritual home of snooker". The

World Women's Snooker Championship The World Women's Snooker Championship (known as the Women's World Open from 1976 Women's World Open (snooker), 1976 to 1981 Women's World Open (snooker), 1981 and the World Ladies Snooker Championship from 1983 Women's World Snooker Championsh ...

and the

World Seniors Championship The World Seniors Championship is an invitational seniors snooker tournament which has been played under different formats. As of 2020 the minimum age is 40, but it was 45 in 2011 and 2012. History The event was first held in 1991 with 16 p ...

have also been staged at the venue. In May 2022 plans were unveiled to build a new 3,000-seat venue nearby with a bridge connecting the two buildings.

History

The Crucible Theatre was built by M J Gleeson and opened in 1971. It replaced the Sheffield Repertory Theatre which was based in Townhead Street at the Sheffield Playhouse. In 1967 Colin George, the founding artistic director of the Crucible, recommended a

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (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 performers and the ...

for Sheffield, inspired by theatres created by Sir

Tyrone Guthrie Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at ...

Tanya Moiseiwitsch Tatiana Benita Moiseiwitsch (3 December 1914 – 19 February 2003) was an English theatre designer. Born in London, the daughter of Daisy Kennedy, an Australian concert violinist and Benno Moiseiwitsch, a Russian/Ukrainian-born classical ...

, 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 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 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''Swansong'' with

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

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

. 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 (), 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 the wealthiest charitable founda ...

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 PLC (, occasionally ) 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 ...

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

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. 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, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende'') is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen that explores the conflict between personal integrity and societal norms. The play centers on Dr. Thomas Stockmann, w ...

'', with the official reopening by Prince Edward on 18 February 2010.

Operation

Theatre

The Crucible is a producing theatre where shows are designed and rehearsed in-house. Productions are normally overseen by the

Sheffield Theatres Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It comprises four theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum, the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, and (as of January 2025) the Montgomery Theatre. These theatres make up ...

Group which also comprises the smaller Playhouse, housed within the same complex, and the neighbouring receiving venue, the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

Sports venue

World Snooker Championship 2013 day 1 session 3

The

tournament has been played annually at the Crucible since

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, and the venue has been lauded for creating a special feeling of excitement around the event. Sports journalist Peter Mason, in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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

was held at the Crucible between

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

but was eventually withdrawn due to financial difficulties. The Crucible is the current venue for the

. The venue has also hosted championships of other indoor

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s, such as

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

and squash.

Future plans

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 had confirmed talks were underway with Sheffield City 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, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

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

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

Sheffield TheatresGuardian Unlimited
{{Authority control Theatres completed in 1971 Sports venues in Sheffield Snooker in England Snooker venues Theatres in Sheffield Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield World Snooker Championships