ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the history of the Shakespeare North Playhouse project over twenty years, from its first broad concept of creating a home celebrating Shakespeare’s links with the north of England. It follows the development of two successive charitable trusts set up to try to get the idea off the ground and the evolution of thinking not just about potential purpose of any building but then more practically securing a location and funding for the theatre. There is an account of the financial and political challenges associated with making the project possible and the period of construction, 2018–22. Finally there is analysis of how the main auditorium in the playhouse is in keeping with the theatrical tradition of ‘found spaces’ and how the whole building meets the current priority for arts venues to be flexible enough to meet local needs and allow both performers and communities to shape new work.
