Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond: The oldest theatre in Yorkshire where people visit from all over the world is ‘vitally important’ to British culture according to its CEO

The town already had a Georgian society such as the assembly and race meetings on the racecourse.

Samuel built nine theatres altogether in Beverley, Hull, Whitby, Northallerton Ripon and Harrogate.

Richmond was his first and is the last one left standing today.

Samuel and his wife Tryphosa managed the theatres together until he died in 1812 and she continued to run it until 1848 when it closed.

It was closed for nearly 100 years before it was handed back to the council and with the help of the MP for Richmond’s wife Nancy Crathorne the theatre was restored in 1939.

Now, the CEO of the theatre, Jo Mawhinney, from Richmond, spoke to The Yorkshire Post about work to preserve it for future generations due to its historical significance.

It was reopened to the public in 1963 and has been running as a theatre ever since.

“It’s got a long history; it’s the oldest theatre in the country in its original form,” Ms Mawhinney said.

“A lot of the features in there are original, including a lot of the floorboards and various different signs and there’s a lovely Shakespeare sign above the Shakespeare box which is original.

“It’s vitally important, not just to Richmond but to the world essentially. It’s such a gem, a unique building.

“It’s very much a community playhouse now as well as receiving professional shows all year round and we have our big pantomime.

“It’s so important to the community particularly, but nationally it’s recognised as a historic building. We have people visiting from all over the world to do studies on theatre, it’s unique in what it is.”

Ms Mawhinney, from Richmond, said that the theatre is struggling to find funding when it's needed.

“We struggle on financially and we really need the help to be able to develop the theatre and to keep up to date with everything,” she said.

“The history of the theatre is vitally important to the culture of the country and it would be the biggest shame if we lost this theatre.

“Thank goodness we haven’t come to that because of our generous people who support the theatre but it could happen. It’s just heartbreaking to think that it could be lost.

“We’re so grateful to the people who do come to the theatre and appreciate it for what it is.”

The theatre is run by 100 passionate volunteers who have preserved its historical integrity.

“It’s got such a soul to it and people who use the building always feel a little bit like custodians of it,” Ms Mawhinney said.

“We have a core staff of eight and the rest of them are volunteers. They help with ushering, backstage, bar, you name it, they do it.

“They come out and do it because they love the theatre and they want to see it thrive and go on. We’re very fortunate that way.

“Same for the staff, I’m the CEO here and I might have an allocated hours a week but I never stick to that because you’re always coming in to do something purely for the love of the building.

“It’s very traditional and it remains that way. However, even with the progression of arts and culture, we can still do all the modern things because we have modern lighting, but it is so important to be able to offer top quality productions.

“Quite often we have people coming from all over the place to do archeological and architectural studies on it because it is in its original form and you just don’t get it anymore.

“There are older theatres of course but their insides have been completely ripped out and put back in. But our theatre is very authentic to how it would have been in the 1700s.”

Funding is always an issue for the theatre, Ms Mawhinney said.

“In the past we have been funded by the arts council etc but we are not currently funded by the arts council at all,” she said.

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“Like all theatres, we face financial challenges, and the generous support of funding bodies such as the Arts Council and North Yorkshire Council has been invaluable in helping us deliver past projects and hopefully this positive relationship will continue into the future.

“We managed to get support during Covid, which was a very difficult time for the theatre and we were very lucky in that we were given quite a large amount of money by an entrepreneur.

“During that dark period of Covid we were able to do this refurb which has helped so much. The funding element is always the issue.”

In a statement released to the Yorkshire Post, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for culture and the arts, Coin Simon Myers, said: “Richmond’s Georgian Theatre Royal is a much-loved cultural gem in our county, and one which we value highly as an asset to the region.

“The theatre’s chief executive and chair of trustees worked collaboratively with our culture and archives service and other partners on the development of our recently published cultural strategy and continue to be valued members of the consortium group.

“We have not been approached by the theatre with a specific request for funding, and although we are facing significant financial pressures, we are committed to supporting cultural organisations across the county with their business development and sustainability.

“This involves support to apply for funding, writing business plans, skills development, provision of training and more. We are also in the process of developing a Creative Hub for the sector – a key action from the strategy’s development.”

Georgian Theatre Royal also runs a youth session for children between the ages of six and 18 and Ms Mawhinney, 50, said that all children should have theatre experience.

“The youth theatre has 100 students coming through the theatre doors every week,” she said.

“It’s a lovely opportunity for them, their first experience of performing is on our stage which is so historic and quite often they go on to work in the industry.

“The youth theatre is something we’re really trying to develop; we’ve got a lot of projects in mind but we need funding.

“The great thing about our youth theatre is that it’s for everyone; it’s very inclusive, everybody is different, everybody has different abilities and I’m very keen that it’s not elitist.

“It’s really important that they get such a positive experience and get to perform here. It really builds their confidence massively.

“It’s important that all children have theatre experiences, not just the youth theatre but also that children come to the theatre and enjoy what they are seeing. Their first experience of the theatre needs to be special.”

A spokesperson for the Arts Council England said: “The Arts Council has a number of open funding programmes, including our National Lottery Project Grants scheme, which welcomes applications year-round from artists and organisations from across the country.

“However, there is strong competition for our funds, and we are not able to offer investment to everyone who applies.

“We have provided support and advice to The Georgian Theatre Royal about applying to the Arts Council for funding.

“The theatre is able to apply to a new round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund, which opens this May.

“We continue to make the case for future investment to support arts, culture and creativity as best we can, so that cultural organisations can continue to provide exciting and high-quality productions and activities for communities everywhere.”