Theatre of Hate

Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate (2015)
Background information
Origin	London, United Kingdom
Genres	Post-punk, gothic rock
Years active	1980–1983, 1991, 1993–1996, 2005–present
Labels	Burning Rome Records, Straight Music, Mau Mau Records, Anagram Records, Dojo Records, Receiver Records, Snapper Music, Easterstone, Eastersnow Recording Company
Associated acts	The Pack, the Epileptics, the Straps, Crisis, the Nosebleeds, Spear of Destiny, Sex Gang Children, the Cult, the Baby Snakes, the Gun Club, Kirk Brandon's 10:51, Dead Men Walking, Plastic Eaters, the Mission, the Sisters of Mercy, the Alarm, New Model Army
Website	Kirkbrandon.com
Members	Kirk Brandon Stan Stammers John "Boy" Lennard Adrian Portas Danny Ferrani
Past members	Steve Guthrie Luke Rendle Billy Duffy Nigel Preston Mark Thwaite Pete Barnacle Volker Janssen John McNutt Art Smith Knut Knutson Craig Adams Mike Kelly

Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in Britain in 1980.

Led by singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon (formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of guitarist Steve Guthrie, bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of the Straps and the Epileptics), saxophonist John "Boy" Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle (formerly of Crisis and the Straps).

The Pack were a British punk rock band formed in 1978, comprising Kirk Brandon on vocals and guitar, Simon Werner (died 26 Nov 2010) on guitar, Jonathan Werner on bass, and Rab Fae Beith (later of UK Subs) on drums. Beith was eventually replaced by Jim Walker. The band released two singles in 1979, ""Heathen" and "King of Kings", and the Kirk Brandon & The Pack of Lies EP in 1980, before splitting. Their posthumous releases were the Long Live the Past EP (1982); The Pack 1982 live album, recorded in 1979 and released on cassette only on Walker's Donut Records label; and the collection Dead Ronin (2001).

In 1980, the Pack ended and Theatre of Hate were formed, with Luke Rendle on drums, Stan Stammers joining on bass, Steve Guthrie on guitar and John "Boy" Lennard on sax (the Werner brothers joined the Straps, who Stammers had previously played for). Inspired by Antonin Artaud's book Theatre and its DoubleThe band took its name from the concept of the Theatre of Cruelty: "Artaud called for the emotional involvement of the audience. Singer Brandon borrowed the thespian term because he was trying to do the same." The first Theatre of Hate release was the "Original Sin" single in November 1980, which reached No. 5 on the UK Indie Chart. " It was followed by "Rebel Without a Brain" in April 1981, and "Nero" in July. They garnered much early attention as a live act and made their full-length debut in 1981 with the live album He Who Dares Wins (Live at the Warehouse Leeds), released on vinyl on their own Burning Rome label. Guthrie left the band shortly after the album's release. Another live recording followed, Live at the Lyceum, issued on cassette, also in 1981.