As part of the events marking the departure of the Library Theatre Company from the Central Library, the company is running a prize draw during the run of The Importance of Being Earnest. Tickets cost £5, with all proceeds going to the Manchester Library Theatre Company Development Trust (charity reg. no. 1099215).
The draw will be made during the Last night at the Library Theatre event on Sunday 4th July, and the first prize will be an original signed Harold Riley print, kindly donated by the artist himself. The print is appropriately of the Theatre Royal on Peter Street, which has been identified as the new home for the Library Theatre Company, and which we hope will open in 2014.
Of his work, Harold says “My association with the Theatre Royal is a long one, really because Lowry told me about it; told me about its heyday when it was a theatre where he would go and watch the Victorian Mysteries and drama. Right opposite was the old Gaiety Theatre which Miss Horniman had, and as I painted Sybil Thorndike not long before she died, she spoke about the days spent there, just across the road from the Theatre Royal”.
“I made a series of drawings of the Theatre Royal over the years, from both the side, the back – you know, from near the old railway station – and from the front on Peter Street and it’s a very special place in Manchester because it’s the most theatre-looking of all theatres and also that wonderful classical frontage. So I’ve seen from theatre, to cinema to nightclub. Let’s hope it goes back to being a theatre”.
Other prizes include the chance to be an extra in Channel 4’s Shameless, a guided tour of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, plus many more fantastic prizes to be announced.
To stand a chance of winning, simply buy a ticket from a member of the Front of House staff or through the Library Theatre Box Office on 0161 236 7110 – and good luck!