playhouse

How many theatres are there in Bradford?

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A photo of the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford.

Seeing as it’s UK City of Culture this year, and theatres are places where you can see cultural things, how many theatres are there in Bradford? I think there’s eight, and here’s a list.

By the way, I’m defining Bradford as the area within the A6177 Bradford ring road. That means that I’m not including the theatres and arts centres in Ilkley, Bingley and Keighley that are in the wider City of Bradford district. And I’m defining ‘theatre’ as anywhere with a stage and seating that can be used for performances.

1. The Alhambra Theatre

Probably the best known theatre in Bradford is the Alhambra Theatre in the city centre. Opening shortly before the First World War, and extensively refurbished in 1986, it seats 1456 people and is where most major shows take place. It’s Grade II listed, and next month it’ll be hosting the touring production of Matilda, Tim Michin’s musical adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel. Earlier this month, it hosted the annual CBeebies Pantomime which will be on TV and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.

The last show we saw here was Unfortunate, last year, but we may well go to see Matilda as it’s a favourite in our household. It’s a Grade II listed building.

2. The Studio

Right behind the Alhambra Theatre is The Studio. As the name suggests, it’s a ‘black box’ studio theatre with a movable seating rig. This can seat up to 200, and is used for smaller productions and stand-up comedy. We saw George Egg here 10 years ago, but haven’t been to another show since.

3. Theatre in the Mill

Okay, disclosure alert: The Theatre in the Mill is run by my employer, the University of Bradford. As the name suggests, it’s in part of what was the Phoenix Mill, and now forms one of the university buildings. Like The Studio, it’s a black box studio theatre with movable seating, and seats around 100 people. Its programme of events includes stand-up comedy – both performances and workshops – film screenings and shows. I’ve also been to a number of student shows here over the years, but as Bradford isn’t really a performing arts university, there currently aren’t many of these.

4. Siobhan Ullah Performance Space

Next door to the university is Bradford College, which is home to Bradford Arts School, and in turn, the Siobhan Ullah Performance Space. Although it’s primarily used by the college students, it can also be used for events and seats 125 people. Again, it’s a black box studio theatre. It’s named after a former performing arts student of the college who sadly died of an asthma attack, aged just 18. I haven’t been to this theatre before.

A photo of Bradford Live, a theatre in Bradford

5. Bradford Live

Back down towards the city centre, and next door to the Alhambra is Bradford’s newest and biggest performance venue, Bradford Live. It only opened this summer, and seats over 3000 people. It’s hosted in what was the Victoria Theatre, and later and Odeon Cinema which closed in 2000, and laid empty for almost a quarter of a century. Indeed, it survived a plan to demolish it in the late 2000s, and has now undergone a huge amount of restoration. It’s not currently a listed building.

As the name suggests, Bradford Live is more about live events and will be hosting a number of bands in coming months. Ocean Colour Scene are playing next month, as is CBeebies entertainer Justin Fletcher, and the Kaiser Chiefs are playing their first album in full in the new year. But there are some shows that you would typically expect in a theatre playing there too, such as Bluey’s Big Play, which I’m sure we’d be dragged to if our nine-year-old was a bit younger. We haven’t yet been here.

6. Bradford Arts Centre

Okay, technically the Bradford Arts Centre is even newer than Bradford Live, having opened under its current name as recently as this month. Previously, it was known as Kala Sangam, with a focus on South Asian arts. Its new name reflects its broader remit and engagement across all of Bradford’s populations. It’s located at what used to be Bradford’s crown post office at Forster Square, around the back of the Broadway shopping centre and next to Bradford Cathedral. The building is Grade-II listed.

There are several spaces in the arts centre, including a 200 seater studio theatre. We’ve been once, to see a pantomime that a friend was in about 10 years ago.

7. Bradford Playhouse

A few years ago, I used to volunteer at the Bradford Playhouse, and so it’s come up on here a few times. It was at risk of closure in 2014, but is now flourishing and is now fully accessible, following a successful crowdfunder early this year. The theatre offers two spaces: an art deco main auditorium seating up to 265 people, and a smaller black box studio theatre, seating up to 40 people. It hosts a mixture of professional shows and performances by amateur dramatic societies and dance schools. The building isn’t listed, but it was registered as an Asset of Community Value for five years in 2014.

8. St Georges Hall

Like Bradford Live, St Georges Hall is more of a live events venue than a theatre, with stand-up comedy and live bands. It’s also the oldest on this list, having opened in 1853. At one time, over 3000 seats were squeezed into the space, but nowadays its seating capacity has been reduced to 1335, or 1550 for standing events. It’s Grade II* listed, and was renovated between 2016 and 2019. The last show we went to see was a recording of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in 2014.

I think that’s quite an impressive list of theatres, actually, considering Bradford’s size.

Let’s make the Bradford Playhouse accessible

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A screenshot of the Bradford Playhouse crowdfunder page for accessibility improvements

It was almost 11 years ago that I asked my blog readers to help save the Bradford Playhouse. The good news is that it was saved, and is still open. Unfortunately, being as it is a theatre from the 1920s, it’s not accessible – but its management team want to change that.

For anyone who can’t manage stairs, the building is essentially a no-go. There are stairs up to the main entrance, and once you’re inside, more stairs up to the seating or down to the bar. There is no lift, nor has there ever been one.

The good news is that planning permission has now been granted for accessibility improvements. There’ll be a new entrance, that much needed lift, and a facelift for the front of the building to restore its original art-deco appearance. In even better news, most of the money has been found to fund the improvements, partly thanks to Bradford being City of Culture for 2025. But there’s still a bit more money needed, and that’s where you can help.

Crowd funding

There’s a Crowd Funder, which needs to raise £10,000 by the 16th April. At the time of writing, they are 19% of the way there. Even if you can only spare £10, if another 800 people do the same, it’ll be enough to meet the target.

As regular readers will know, accessibility is something that is important to me and I include a section in all my newer days out reviews. Installing a lift at the Bradford Playhouse will open it up to many people who can’t manage stairs – not just wheelchair users, but others with mobility issues, and parents with prams. That way, more people can enjoy shows there, and it makes the venue more attractive to producers who currently may be deterred by its lack of accessibility. It would be fantastic if the funding target could be met, and the work completed before the end of Bradford’s year as City of Culture ends in 10 months time. I’ve already contributed; if you can, please contribute as well.

Save The New Bradford Playhouse

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It seems like Bradford can’t go any length of time without its cultural institutions being threatened with closure. There’s the long-running saga of the old Odeon cinema, now subject to two rival regeneration plans, last year’s threat to close the National Media Museum, and now The New Bradford Playhouse is at risk.

The Playhouse has had something a troubled history. I first became aware of it as The Priestley Theatre, which had recently re-opened following a fire and subsequent extensive refurbishment. That closed down and a few years later was reborn as the Bradford Playhouse, but that too failed financially.

More recently a company called Takeover Events & Theatre Ltd, trading as The New Bradford Playhouse, has been running the theatre as a going concern, as tenants. However, the building’s owner has gone into liquidation, and so the theatre will be sold at auction next month. And there’s a real risk that whoever buys it will want to convert the building into something else.

This would be a terrible shame as the theatre still has many of its original features despite the fire damage. It’s Bradford’s only medium sized theatre, seating 290 people, and also houses a small studio space. I’ve been privileged to be able to help out with some of the shows there, such as Little Shop of Horrors which Christine performed in earlier this year. The operating team is well-connected and has been able to draw upon a lot of goodwill to get the theatre to where it is now, and it would be a huge shame if their hard work came to nothing. Especially as they have some ambitious plans to re-invigorate the theatre, with a new entrance, wheelchair access and a proper café or restaurant on site, subject to funding.

If Takeover Events can buy the theatre outright at the auction, then I’m sure it will have a bright future – I personally trust them to be able to turn it around and break the vicious cycle that has seen it closed down so many times in the past. But my worry is that it will end up being sold to someone else who will turn it into flats or offices, and an important part of Bradford’s cultural heritage will be gone for good.

So, here’s what you can do to help. If you can spare some money, please contribute to the Indiegogo campaign. They need £125,000 in less than three weeks, to be able to buy the building at auction. Also, simply buying tickets and going along to their shows will help.

If you have no money to spare, then please sign this petition to Bradford Council, asking them to refuse planning permission to anyone wanting to change the use of the building. That way, if another company buys it, there is a reduced risk of it being converted into anything other than a theatre. And if you’re local to Bradford, get in touch with the people running the theatre to see if you can volunteer any of your time to cut down on their running costs in the meantime.

With the new Westfield shopping centre opening around the corner from the Playhouse in less than two years’ time, the theatre could have a really bright and sustainable future for the first time in many years. So it’s critical that the theatre is saved. It will be such a massive shame if it isn’t.

Update: Some coverage from the local paper. With two and a bit weeks to go, they are unfortunately a long way from their target.