24 Oct 2024
by Hollie Wimpenny

Ornate theatre auditorium with 2 tiers of gilded galleries and a red velvet curtain across the stage.
The stunning auditorium of Crewe's historic Lyceum Theatre.

Why we take part

The Crewe Lyceum Theatre boasts a rich history dating back to 1882, but as an entertainment venue, we rarely have the chance to share our story. By opening our doors and hosting unique events through Heritage Open Days, we hope more people in our community will come to appreciate the theatre's origins and its significance. Our aim is to inspire ongoing support for this beautiful Edwardian theatre, ensuring it remains a cherished landmark for future generations.

What we do for HODs

Over the past few years, we’ve offered backstage tours, where a local historian shares the theatre’s journey from its beginnings to the present day, while giving attendees a rare glimpse behind the scenes, typically reserved for performers.

It was so cool to see parts of the theatre that you wouldn't normally see, and we learnt loads … None of my group had ever been to the theatre there before but will definitely be returning for a show in the future.

Visitor

2024 - Behind the scenes tour

This year, alongside our usual tours, we introduced a panto costume design workshop. Pantomime is one of our largest annual productions and a cornerstone of British theatre culture. To celebrate this tradition, our workshop allowed participants to explore our archive of past pantomimes and collaborate with a professional costume designer to create a design for our 2024 pantomime, Beauty and the Beast. It was fully booked and we hope to do something similar next year.

5 people in red pantomime costumes on stage with a pantomime elephant.
Close up of people probably sat, round a table, sketching costume designs.
Inspired by the theatre's archives, visitors loved sketching ideas at the new Pantomime Costume Workshop.

We were also selected for the New Wave programme* this year, where we collaborated with young adults aged 18-25 to help develop and deliver an event aimed at younger audiences. Over three months, we worked with a small group of volunteers, meeting every two weeks. They delved into our history and chose to highlight our ghost stories, which tie into key events from the theatre's past. Their idea was to create an escape room-style experience using various parts of the building, which evolved into our "Hunted History" event. Five teams of up to four people competed against each other to see who could solve the clues the fastest.

A fab evening doing something a bit different in our local beautiful theatre. Having the chance to go behind the scenes, learning about the ghosts in the building while having fun completing activities/tasks was great.

Visitor

2024 - Hunted History

Poster design of a backstage area of theatre with lights and ladders.

The poster for this year's escape room event - a new angle to attract a new audience.

The difference it makes

Through the New Wave programme, we partnered with YMCA Crewe, working with their young residents. Many of them had never visited the theatre before or even knew we were in the Town Centre, so it was a rewarding experience introducing them to the venue. Our usual engagement focuses on young people aged 5-18, so working with the 18-25 age group was a valuable opportunity. It opened new ideas for hosting events outside of our typical show programme, helping us reach more diverse audiences and encouraging them to experience the theatre in an unusual way.

*New Wave is a Heritage Open Days training programme, working with a small cohort of local organisers from across the country to create events in collaboration with young adults.

A huge thank you for including us in the planning and delivery of this event, we really appreciate it and hope that there will be the opportunity for us to collaborate on future projects going forward. I know that for one of our residents in particular this has been hugely beneficial.

Partner

2024 - YMCA Crewe

Hollie’s top tips!

  • Partnering with another organisation can help lighten the workload.
  • Be open to creativity and new ideas! I initially wasn’t sure how an escape room would work in our theatre, but by collaborating with colleagues and volunteers, we found a way to make it happen.

Inspired?! Find out more