The Building
The current Modern movement theatre was opened in 1963. The architect was Peter Moro who had worked on the interior design of the Royal Festival Hall in London. It was initially controversial as it faces the gothic revival Roman Catholic cathedral designed by Augustus Pugin.
The buildings received a Civic Trust Award in 1965. Despite the modern external appearance and the circular auditorium walls, the theatre has a conventional proscenium layout, seating an audience of 770.
During the 1980s, when the concrete interiors were out of fashion, the Playhouse suffered from insensitive "refurbishment" that sought to hide its character. Since 1996, it has been a Grade II* listed building and in 2004, the theatre was sympathetically restored and refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The sculpture Sky Mirror by Anish Kapoor was installed between the theatre and the adjacent green space of Wellington Circus in 2001 at a cost of £1.25m (£1.54 million as of 2012),. It is one of the main features of the 160 seat patio area of Cast Restaurant and in autumn 2007 won the Nottingham Pride of Place in a public vote to determine the city's favourite landmark.
Read more about this topic: Nottingham Playhouse
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