Northcott Theatre

Northcott Theatre

The Northcott Theatre after its 2007 refurbishment.
Address	Exeter
Coordinates	50°44′09″N 3°32′07″W / 50.7358°N 3.5352°W / 50.7358; -3.5352
Capacity	464 seats
Production	Visiting performances
Opened	1967
Website
http://www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

The Northcott Theatre is a theatre situated on the Streatham Campus of the University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England. It opened in 1967 and was run until 2010 by the Northcott Theatre Foundation, when the company ceased operating after a period in administration. The theatre is now known as Exeter Northcott Theatre and became a registered charity (no. 1151620) in June 2013.

The Northcott is the seventh building in Exeter to be used as a theatre.

In 1962, the Theatre Royal, Exeter was demolished to be replaced by an office block; however there were many people in Exeter who were determined that the city should not be without a theatre for very long. Early in 1962 Mr G V Northcott had started negotiations with the Board of Directors of the Theatre Royal with the view to "saving" the theatre, and its re-creation as a theatre and arts centre. A small group from the University of Exeter prepared a memorandum explaining how they saw the Theatre Royal functioning in the kind of way that Mr Northcott visualised and outlining some ideas. They submitted this memorandum to the Board of Directors of the Theatre Royal and to Mr Northcott. After some time, however, negotiations failed to develop and the Theatre Royal was sold.

For a time, informal discussions continued between Mr Northcott and the University, and later in 1962 more formal contacts were made. The then Vice-Chancellor pointed out that the University had for some time earmarked a site for a theatre on its Development Plan and it was possible that, in collaboration with the University, Mr Northcott's ideas for a theatre and arts centre could be realised.

Ultimately, the University offered a site: Mr Northcott established a trust with a benefaction of £100,000 (later supplemented by a generous gift of £50,000 from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and by other bodies), to establish the "Northcott Devon Theatre and Arts Centre", which would serve the needs of the community in the region. The Northcott Theatre opened with a production of The Merchant of Venice, starring Tony Church, its first Artistic Director, on 2 November 1967. Barbara Hepworth unveiled one of her sculptures in the foyer on opening night. The architects were Sir William Holford and Partners and the theatre consultant Michael Warre.