The Liverpool Playhouse, the much-loved Victorian era theatre in Williamson Square, is to undergo some much-needed refurbishment work. The Liverpool Echo reports that some of the stage machinery has never been replaced or upgraded since the theatre was built back in 1866, when it was known as the Star Music Hall.
The theatre is overseen by The Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust (LMTT), who are planning to carry out a feasibility study to decide how best to spend the renovation funds. The interior of the three-storey building is decorated in the Greek Revival style.
Chief Executive Mark Da Vanzo told the Echo: “In our role as curators and guardians of the playhouse, we want to take it into the next 100 years. It’s not coming to the end of its life as people know it, but if we didn’t act now to make changes, it could only deteriorate further.”
He added: “If we don’t act early enough these things start to catch up on you. If you don’t maintain your house, it will come back to bite you. It’s a Victorian era theatre. We don’t want to lose any of those things that have kept the building so close to people in the city region. It has a unique character. It’s loved and treasured by its staff.”
Mr Da Vanzo said he hoped that the work on the Playhouse would kick off a wider regeneration of Williamson Square, which was once a cultural hub of the city, but has declined somewhat over recent decades.
A modern extension was added to the theatre in 1968, which is in stark contrast to the original building. It consists of a concrete structure, which supports three cylindrical concrete glass-fronted structures of varying sizes.
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