Royal Court Theatre, Roe Street, Liverpool - Formerly Cooke's Royal Amphitheatre of Arts

The Music Hall and Theatre History Website		Homepage - Site index - Contact me

________________________________________________________________________________________________ Royal Court Theatre, Roe Street, Liverpool Formerly Cooke's Royal Amphitheatre of Arts / Court Theatre Liverpool Index Above - A Sketch of the original 1881 Court Theatre, Liverpool - From 'The Playgoer' of 1901 - Courtesy Iain Wotherspoon.
The Royal Court Theatre which now stands in Liverpool's Roe Street was built in 1938 by James Bushell Hutchins. There is much more on the present Royal Court Theatre furthur down on this page. However, the present Royal Court Theatre was actually built on the site of a previous Theatre known as Cooke's Royal Amphitheatre of Arts. The Theatre was later to become known as simply the 'Royal Ampitheatre.' Right - Notice of forthcoming productions at the Royal Ampitheatre, Liverpool - From the Liverpool Mercury of Jan 15th 1870 - Courtesy BF, whose ancestor, James Fernandez was on the Bill in the bottom advertisement. Cooke's Royal Ampitheatre of Arts was later renamed the Court Theatre in 1881. (See image Above.) And was sometimes also refered to as the Royal Court Theatre. This Theatre, previously Cooke's Royal Amphitheatre of Arts, was destroyed by fire in 1933. After the fire a new Theatre was built on the site and opened five years later in 1938 and was named the Royal Court, Liverpool. There is much more on the present Royal Court Theatre furthur down on this page.
Above - A scene from 'Aladdin' at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool in 1906-1907 - Courtesy Alun Pugh Above - A scene from 'Aladdin' at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool in 1906-1907 - Courtesy Alun Pugh
The New and Present Royal Court Theatre Above - The 1938 Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool - From a Programme for 'The Chocolate Soldier' The Theatre was eventually rebuilt on the same site as the old Court Theatre and this new Theatre, designed in the art Deco style, opened in 1938 as the Royal Court Theatre. Right - A Programme for 'The Chocolate Soldier' at the 1938 Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. The new Royal Court Theatre was built with an auditorium on three levels consisting of Stalls, Grand Circle and Balcony, and the Theatre was fitted with a basement lounge bar which was said to have been a replica of the main lounge of the Ocean Liner The Queen Mary. Left - A Programme for 'The Way of the World' at the Royal Court, Liverpool in November 1956.
Although the auditorium and stage, with its original revolve and fly tower, remained intact for the Theatre's life, in 1980 the Theatre was converted into a concert venue and then in 2005, after extensive refurbishment, into a comedy club, known as the Rawhide Comedy Club, which had cabaret style seating, tables in the auditorium, and a bar fitted into the rear of the former stalls. In this form the Theatre had a capacity of 1,250. Left - The House Tabs and Proscenium of the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool in 1980, shortly before the conversion of the Theatre into a Concert and Cabaret Venue - Courtesy Ted Bottle. The Rawhide Comedy Club has now been moved into its own home in the downstairs bar of the Theatre whilst the main house, with the stalls still in its cabaret style form, with tables and easy access for waiters etc, is used for Comedy, Concerts, and Plays which are often produced in house. In October 2008 a competition was launched to give the Theatre a new lease of life. The Royal Court Trust say that their wish is: "To upgrade, conserve and restore this valuable cultural asset in the heart of the city, following its year as European Capital of Culture. Working with a wide range of public sector agencies, the local community, actors, audiences and staff of the building, the Trust seeks inspiration to create a great new cultural resource in the heart of Liverpool. The Trust is passionate about the building. The theatre has a great history, warmth and vibrancy. We want to work with someone who can embrace all of this and has a genuine empathy for the city and its people. The winner is to be announced in February 2009." The Royal Court Trust.
Above - An Elevation for the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpoool, by the Studio Three Architects Ltd created for a competition for the regeneration of the Theatre in 2009 - Courtesy Mushtaq Saleri RIBA
Above - The Auditorium of the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool in 1980 shortly before the conversion of the Theatre into a Concert and Cabaret Venue - Courtesy Ted Bottle. You may like to visit the Royal Court Theatre's own website here.
James Bushell Hutchins - Architect of the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool by Jill Armsby Above - James Bushell Hutchins taken not long before he died when he was staying at Uplands, with his Niece Norah Moon. James (wearing spectacles and a dark suit) is on the right of the photos, with Norah Moon next to him - Courtesy Jill Armsby, Great Niece of James Bushell Hutchins. James Bushell Hutchins was born at 43 Liverpool Road, Manchester, on 02 July 1876. His father, Samuel, who was born in Huyton, was a publican who worked for Threlfall's Brewery. The family were back in Liverpool, at 282 Great Howard Street, by 1885, as James's mother, Jane Hutchins (formerly Bushell), died there on 28 April. Right - James Bushell Hutchins in a photograph which must have been taken just before his mother died - James is the boy standing behind his sister, Amy Selina, to the left of the picture - Courtesy Jill Armsby, Great Niece of James Bushell Hutchins. James married Florence Sutton (Shown Left) in Birkenhead on 07 July 1898 by which time he was working as a surveyor's assistant. In 1901, aged 24, he gives his occupation as architect and surveyor. They had three children, Minnie, Dorothy and James Stanley and lived first at 13 Ashford Road, Birkenhead, and then at Riversdale, Vaughan Road, New Brighton. Left - James Hutchins' wife Florence - Courtesy Jill Armsby, Great Niece of James Bushell Hutchins. When Minnie married in 1919 they had moved to 13 Percy Street in Liverpool (near the Anglican Cathedral). James had his own architectural practice at 11, Lord Street, Liverpool, throughout the 1920's and 1930's, so it was from this address that he designed the Royal Court Theatre. My uncle, Fred Moon, youngest son of his sister, worked for him as his draughtsman. About 1930 James also had built a house for himself called Cranford at 193 Menlove Avenue, overlooking Calderstones Park. 1941 was not a good year for James. Florence was killed on 09 June 1941 when she was a passenger in a car driven by her son in law, which collided with a bus. She was a very beautiful woman ( I have a studio portrait of her taken by E. Chambre Hardman - Shown Above Left) and her death hit James hard. Lord Street was badly damaged in the May Blitz so James had to move his practice to 10 Victoria Street and this is where it remained until his death. A lot of his work during the war involved seeing that bombed warehouses were made safe. James died on 01 December 1953 in a nursing home near his daughter, Dorothy's home, Uplands, on Cartmel Fell in Cumbria. Above - James Bushell Hutchins taken not long before he died when he was staying at Uplands, with Norah Moon. James (wearing spectacles and a dark suit) is on the right of the photos, with Norah Moon next to him - Courtesy Jill Armsby, Great Niece of James Bushell Hutchins. Considering his humble background James did rather well for himself, I think. And he was a very kind and generous man - my mother and her siblings used to reminisce about the goose and the barrel of apples which he gave to their family each Christmas. The above text on James Bushell Hutchins and the illustrating photographs were kindly sent in by Jill Armsby, Great Niece of James Bushell Hutchins. See also James Bushell Hutchins on the Theatre Architects Page.