Theatre Royal celebrates 160 glorious years entertaining Nottingham audiences
A Nottingham landmark for over a century and a half, the stunningly beautiful Theatre Royal will celebrate 160 glorious years this September.
The venue will host a special programme of free community and heritage events from Monday 22 to Saturday 27 September 2025, including an Open Day with access behind the scenes, heritage exhibition, talks, and foyer performances.
During the week of the anniversary, the National Theatre’s smash hit production, Dear England, will be visiting the Theatre Royal from Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 September, as part of its first ever national tour. This forms a particularly fitting part of the venue’s celebrations, as the play’s acclaimed writer, James Graham, grew up locally and saw his early theatre, including first pantomimes, at the Theatre Royal. On finishing University, he also got his first job in theatre as the venue’s stage door keeper.
The Theatre Royal’s Interim Venue Director, Dan Baxter, said: “We are so proud to be celebrating a landmark birthday this year with a programme focussed very much on the Theatre Royal’s rich history. We’ve curated an exciting programme of free events in order to encourage as many people as possible to engage with us, especially those who may be visiting this beautiful space for the very first time.
The Theatre Royal has been part of Nottingham’s living history for 160 years, a beating heart at the centre of the city’s cultural scene. We look forward sharing this much-loved space with visitors to our special anniversary events, whether that’s giving a glimpse behind the scenes, showing items from our extensive archive, or hearing more of people’s own personal memories, recollections, and stories. Come and join the fun, we can’t wait to see you!”
Programme of Events
Free Talk and Heritage Exhibition
Friday 26 September 1pm
Dress Circle foyer
Free event – Booking required for Heritage Talk
A fascinating glimpse into the Theatre Royal’s 160-year-old archive, with a display of material presented by volunteers from the Theatre Royal’s heritage team. The exhibition will be available to view during venue opening times from Tuesday 12 August to Sunday 28 September.
Theatre Royal Open Day Tours
Saturday 27 September 9am-12.30pm
Theatre Royal, all foyer areas (tours commence in stalls foyer)
Free event – Tickets for backstage tours will be available to book in advance, as well as on a first come first served basis on the day.
Join a backstage tour, chat with theatre experts, enjoy free children’s craft activities, and browse a display of memorabilia from the Theatre Royal’s extensive archive. This free event is suitable for all ages. Backstage tours will start from 9am, with the last tour commencing at 12 noon. An access tour is available at 10.20am.
Step back in time with these historic images of the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal Digital Archive
Since it first opened its doors in 1865, the Theatre Royal Nottingham has survived the reign of seven monarchs, two World Wars, seen the dawn of cinema, radio and television and is still a vital and much-cherished part of our community. In 2018, an online digital archive was launched to celebrate this rich history, Our Theatre Royal Nottingham www.ourtheatreroyal.org which now has over 1,000 items to view.
With funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the venue has worked in partnership with the University of Nottingham to document the venue’s 160-year history and discover and share lost stories and memories about past productions.
Visit the digital archive here
