Student guide to Leeds Theatres

So, you’ve spent the day basking in the numerous attractions the city has to offer: you’ve shopped ‘til you dropped; educated yourself at the Art Gallery or Leeds City Museum; or maybe just dressed up like a superhero and gotten absolutely blind drunk participating in the Otley Run.

What to do now with the evening stretching ahead of you like a glistening ribbon of promise? Well, if the Otley Run hasn’t already taken care of that by hospitalising you, you could do a lot worse than inject a little culture into your life and check out what’s on at the excellent theatres of Leeds.

West Yorkshire Playhouse

Opened in 1990, the Playhouse has established a great reputation in a reasonably short period. It consists of two theatres seating 750 and 350, a bright, modern bar and various other rehearsal spaces and conference facilities – the theatres and bar are clearly the most important of these if you’re anything like the average punter (in this case, me), however.

The performance areas are large enough to create a vibrant, buzzing atmosphere but small enough so that you really get a sense of intimacy with the performance; and the acoustics of the rooms are excellent provided there isn’t someone behind you who has discovered a recent compulsion to eat sweets that come in plastic wrappers.

Many moons ago, when I was an MA student at Leeds University, there was a brilliant midweek deal of £5 tickets for under 25s, so ask at the box office whether this is still available. Their autumn/winter programme is well worth a look and includes Dracula, Dial M for Murder, Clive James in the Evening, The Secret Garden and (everyone loves a Christmas pantomime, don’t they?) Cinderella.

The Grand Theatre and Opera House

The Grand first opened in 1878, closed in 2005 for extensive refurbishments and reopened in 2006. It is a stunning building, with all the frills and furbelows of great Victoriana. Inside there is a distinctly Gothic feel, which only adds to the general theatricality of the place. Foreign Language performances always make me feel more intelligent than I actually am, and The Grand is the home of Opera North and the place to go for that sort of thing.

The décor lends itself beautifully to this genre, although it has also seen its fair share of comedy, dance, drama and musicals. The West Yorkshire Playhouse may be an exemplary model of a modern performance area, but for me you can’t beat the sense of grandeur and excitement engendered by a really stunning historical theatre.

The Grand has this in spades. Look out for Jules Massenet’s Werther this month, and if you really don’t think you can stand to sit through a Christmas pantomime but want to get that warm, fuzzy seasonal feeling then don’t miss A Christmas Carol from 1st December.

The Carriageworks at Millennium Square

The Carriageworks is the newcomer to Leeds’ Theatre scene, and is conveniently located in the new Electric Press Development on Millennium Square: perfect for both pre and post-performance drinks. Run by Leeds City Council, the Carriageworks is home to the Leeds Civic Arts Guild, an umbrella group of performing societies that gives local people a chance to use the facilities themselves.

What I particularly like about this venue is that you can go there and see a startling variety of performances at vastly differing levels: last year I saw a group of belly dancers who were every size, shape and age under the sun but who were clearly having the best time dancing to an appreciative crowd. It was hilarious, but never in a mocking way. You will always find something fresh, exciting and often unexpected at the Carriageworks – it’s a real ‘diamond in the rough’ type of place.

So there you have it. An incomprehensive but pleasingly pithy overview of the great theatres of the city: go and check them out for yourselves, you won’t regret it and it’ll probably be more rewarding than waking up in an unknown room with a banging headache, wondering who nicked your Superman cape last night.

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