Northern Stage
Northern Stage front entrance on King's Walk
Address	Barras Bridge
City	Newcastle upon Tyne
Country	UK
Capacity	Stage 1: 447 seats Stage 2: 160 seats Stage 3: 80-90 seats Stage 1 and 2 can combine to seat 600.
Opened	1970 2006 as Northern Stage
Rebuilt	2004 to 2006
Previous names	Newcastle Playhouse Gulbenkian Studio
www.northernstage.co.uk
	Coordinates: 54°58′45″N 1°36′51″W / 54.9792°N 1.6143°W / 54.9792; -1.6143

Northern Stage is a theatre and producing theatre company based in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is adjacent to Newcastle University's city centre campus on King's Walk, opposite the students' union building. It hosts various local, national and international productions in addition to those produced by the Northern Stage company.

The complex hosts three stages. The capacity decreases, with stage one being the largest, having 447 seats. The complex also boasts a bar-restaurant, McKenna's.

[edit] History

The theatre's beginnings were in 1970 when the current building (initially known as the University Theatre) was built to replace The Tyneside Theatre Company's old building which was demolished in a road-widening scheme. The Tyneside Theatre Company continued to use the theatre until 1977.^[1] The theatre was also formally known as the Newcastle Playhouse and Gulbenkian Studio.

It re-opened in August 2006 as Northern Stage after a £9 million refurbishment.^[2][3] The first performance at the refurbished theatre was a production of the Dennis Potter's Son of Man.^[4]

On 7 April 2008 the Barras Bridge car park was closed for the development of the new University's new Student and Administrative Services Building.^[5] From 17 January until mid-September 2009 the King's Walk steps access to the university were closed, due to essential work on the building.^[6]

[edit] Productions

Recognised as one of the top ten producing theatres in the country,^[who?] Northern Stage both presents visiting national and international theatre and produces its own productions. Recent productions include the first ever revival of Our Friends in the North, Lipsynch (a co-production with Robert Leapage), the first major UK adaptation of Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and updated versions of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and John Osborne's Look Back in Anger.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Northern Stage
• McKenna's at Northern Stage

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