The Tyne Theatre & Opera House presents a catalogue of every performance during its first incarnation under that name, from 23 September 1867 to 1 March 1919.
This was the heyday of touring theatre and opera companies, many of whom made the Tyne Theatre & Opera House their home for a week or a fortnight year after year, but the Theatre also staged its own productions, and the database documents some curious phenomena too, including the Theatre’s occasional summertime transformations into a roller-skating rink or a cinema.
Entries for every production include the dates of every performance of that production, along with information on the type of performance (including the genre), writers, composers, cast, crew, and things that we found interesting. We hope in time to include images too, along with the text of contemporary reviews.
If you have historic programmes or production images from the period, do get in touch by emailing [email protected]
To search the database, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the buttons. A description of the search possibilities is below.
For more information on our research findings, visit: https://www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/performance-calendar/
‘Browse by type’ lets you filter results according to the format and/or genre of the performance. Was it a drama, a comedy, or a musical? It also refers to the more general level of whether the performance was a play or an opera, or something else – a public lecture, a musical concert, or even a film.
‘Search performances’ lets you look for specific plays/operas, specific writers/composers, and specific cast and crew. The ‘Search’ box will search across all the information that we have for every production – not just titles. So if you’re interested in how many times Henry Irving appeared, search ‘Henry Irving’, if looking for productions of ‘La Traviata’, search ‘Traviata’, or if you’re searching for Newcastle United footballer (and amateur dramatist!) Colin Veitch, search ‘Veitch’. The search is not case-sensitive.
‘Calendar view’ lets you browse by month. Select the month and year from the drop-down menu. Every coloured circle represents a performance. Repeat performances of one production are shown by the use of the same colour. The Theatre often staged multiple different performance on one evening, and of course ‘morning performances’ or ‘matinees’ were common too, so many days have two or more circles.
These thousands of performances were catalogued by a team of local volunteers in 2022-23, with the help of academics from Newcastle University and Northumbria University. We used advertisements and reviews in Newcastle newspapers, along with surviving programmes and posters. We are indebted to Newcastle City Library and Tyne & Wear Archives for letting us acquire the tens of thousands of scans and photographs from which this information was compiled.
Our volunteers were amazing but probably not perfect, so if you spot any errors, please contact [email protected]
Thanks to all those who helped bring this database to life: Andrew Shail, Martin Collins, Pauline Trotry, Charlotte Bennett, Paula Blair, Shruti Mayekar, Rachel Snape, Riikka Heiskanen, Helena Goodwyn, Adina Rabinowitz, Kate Court, Anthea Lang, Barbara Rutter, Caroline Roberts, Carol Cooke, Charmian Marshall, Christine Potter, Claire Botham, David Reynolds, Georgia Pickering, Hannah Going, Holly Russell, Jamie Ion, Jasmine Mak, Julie Fairless, Karen Warender, Lucy Swanston, Lynne Patrick, Mariana Tapia, Marge Craig, Mary Thornton, Rose Wilson, Sandra Davison, Sonia Townend, Teresa Gore, Terry Sutton, Valerie Wood and Viv Gray.
Filter performances by type
Click on a coloured circle to view the performance
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