It was the company's last production. The theatre was then sold to the University of Derby. It reopened in October 2009 as the Derby Theatre.
The new Derby Playhouse opened with "My Fair Lady".
The first season also included "Hamlet" and Alan Bates in "The Seagull".
Mark Woolgar was Resident Director for the first five seasons. Plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Ayckbourn, Orton and Coward were put on.
In 1980, Christopher Honer joined the Playhouse as Artistic Director. Over the next seven years, the Playhouse's productions included "All My Sons" with Miranda Richardson, "Piaf" with Caroline Quentin, "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" starring Ben Roberts. New plays included Rony Robinson's "The Brewery Beano" and Don Shaw's "The Conspirator".
Box office successes included "Funny Peculiar", "Having A Ball!" and "Blood Brothers". During this time, the Derby Playhouse Studio, under the direction of John North, David Milne and Claire Grove, provided a year-round programme of productions. They also put on community tours and a Theatre in Education programme.
In 1987, Annie Castledine became Artistic Director. During the next three years, the Playhouse saw a completely different style of theatre. Plays included "The Innocent Mistress", "The Children's Hour" and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" and classic plays such as "A Doll's House" and "Jane Eyre". Other plays included "Arsenic and Old Lace", "Gaslight" and "Noises Off" alongside new work such as "Sunday's Children", "The Queen of Spades", "Selling the Sizzle" and "Self Portrait". There was a series of co-productions with the companies Shared Experience, Paines Plough and Temba. During this period, the theatre's productions became known for the strength of their on-stage visual imagery. The Playhouse was shortlisted for the Prudential Awards.
In the summer of 1990, Derbyshire County Council cut their entire arts budget. This took £130,000 of revenue grant from the Playhouse.
The City Council offered the theatre a small grant. This enabled the Playhouse to continue to operate. According to Lyn Gardner writing in "The Guardian", "it was Castledine's head that was demanded by the council as the price of underwriting the theatre's deficit." Castledine left the Playhouse.
From the summer of 1990 to Christmas 1991, Executive Director, David Edwards, was in charge of the programme. This ended with the Playhouse's production of "Hobson's Choice". This won the Theatrical Management Association's Regional Theatre Award for Best Overall Production.
In spring 1991, Mark Clements was appointed Artistic Director. His first season opened with a production of "And A Nightingale Sang". The production of John Godber's "On The Piste", was repeated later in the year, and again in 2001. Godber's work remained a popular part of the programme while Clements' was in charge. During the Clements period the programme included a variety of work, ranging from classics such as "Death of a Salesman", Aphra Behn's "Lucky Chance" and Shakespeare's "Richard III", to contemporary drama such as "Our Boys", "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice" and "Children of a Lesser God", and newly commissioned work such as "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", "Passion Killers" and "Blood Money".
Musicals became an important part of the programme, including "Grease", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Cabaret" and "Assassins". The pantomimes written by Mark Clements and Michael Vivian drew in record numbers at Christmas time.
In 2002, Mark Clements and David Edwards left the company. Karen Hebden was appointed as chief executive and Stephen Edwards as Creative Producer. Over the following years the Playhouse gained a national reputation for its productions.
There were in-house productions of "", "Into the Woods", "Company" and "Merrily We Roll Along".
Three of these productions featured Glenn Carter. One of these was a new music drama, "Moon Landing", in which he played Buzz Aldrin. It was written, composed and directed by Stephen Edwards. "Moon Landing" was nominated in the Best Musical Production category of the 2008 TMA Awards.
An original cast recording of the final performance was made. The company's last production before its permanent closure was "The Killing of Sister George" starring Jenny Eclair and directed by Cal McCrystal. Its run ended on 18 October 2008. The rest of the 2008 autumn season, including the Christmas production of "Peter Pan", was cancelled.
Derby Theatre
Derby Theatre is a theatre in Derby. It is in the Intu Derby shopping centre. It used to be known as the Derby Playhouse. It was owned and run by Derby Playhouse Ltd from its opening in 1975 until 2008, when the company ceased operating. The theatre reopened in 2009 as the Derby Theatre under the ownership of the University of Derby. The university use it as a professional and learning theatre. It has a 531 seat main auditorium and a 110-seat studio theatre.
The Derby Playhouse closed in 2008. The theatre was reopened in October 2009 as the Derby Theatre under the ownership of the University of Derby. The first two productions were by the Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company who performed "The Gondoliers" and "The Mikado".
The University of Derby originally operated the venue in partnership with Derby LIVE, the city council's performing arts programme. The theatre being used for both visiting professional companies and as a learning and community theatre. This partnership came to end in March 2012. The University continued to operate the theatre with the support of the Arts Council England.
From May 2012, Derby Theatre received £923,000 from the Arts Council England to support a three year Learning Theatre Pilot programme. The University gave up to £500,000 per year from its Arts fund.
The theatre held a fundraising campaign to help with restoration costs. The main auditorium seating and carpets were refurbished in August 2012.
The old Arts College and Metro Cinema building on Green Lane was restored. It is an historic building owned by the University of Derby. It was adapted for the theatre's use. It has spaces for rehearsals, prop storage, and the wardrobe department. In December 2012, it was opened by the theatre's newly appointed Artistic Director, Sarah Brigham; general manager, Gary Johnson; and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, John Coyne.
In November 2013, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation awarded a grant of £164,000 to the theatre. This was to support the development of its work as a learning theatre and to focus on supporting emerging artists, developing creative skills and working with community groups.
From its opening in 2009, former actor, Gary Johnson, was the Derby Theatre's general manager. He left in November 2015.
In January 2013, Sarah Brigham became the theatre's first resident Artistic Director. Brigham later became both Chief Executive and Artistic Director.
In 2012, the first season of works included "Yes, Prime Minister", "Funny Peculiar", "Horrible Histories" and a co-production of "The Butterfly Lion" in association with New Perspectives Theatre Company and Curve Theatre.
Autumn 2012 productions included "Radio Times", "Three Men in a Boat", "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Haunting", a musical theatre adaptation of "Charlotte's Web" in conjunction with The Birmingham Stage Company.
The 2013 season featured productions of "The Pitmen Painters", "James and the Giant Peach" and a new touring production of "Birdsong". Since its re-opening, the theatre has staged an annual children's classic during the Christmas season.
In May 2013, the first production commissioned and produced by the theatre under the artistic directorship of Sarah Brigham was Lee Hall’s Cooking with Elvis, directed by Mark Babych.