Lace Market Theatre
The logo of the Lace Market Theatre
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| Address | Halifax Place City Centre, Nottingham  United Kingdom
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| Coordinates | 52°57′06″N 1°08′42″W / 52.9516°N 1.1449°W |
| Owner | The Lace Market Theatre Trust Ltd. |
| Designation | Grade II Listed Building |
| Type | Amateur Theatre |
| Capacity | 118 auditorium, 50 studio |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1972 |
| Rebuilt | 1984 extension |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Lace Market Theatre is a small, independent amateur theatre, located in Nottingham, England. It is owned and operated by The Lace Market Theatre Trust Limited, which is a registered charity.
The Lace Market Theatre Trust developed from two amateur dramatic societies founded in Nottingham in the 1920s – the Nottingham Playgoers Club [1922] and the Nottingham Philodramatic Society [1926]. These amalgamated in 1946 to become the Nottingham Theatre Club and were based from 1946 to 1951 at the Nottingham Bluecoat School.
In 1951 the Nottingham Theatre Club moved to leased premises in Hutchinson Street which were much closer to the city centre. They stayed there until 1972, when they left as part of the major slum clearance and redevelopment of the city during that decade. It was at this point that the members raised the money to buy an old dilapidated paint store in the Lace Market area of the city.
The paint store had originally been built in 1761 as a Chapel and later became a school, where William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was a pupil. The building is now Grade II listed.
Tight funds meant that most of the conversion had to be carried out by the members themselves in their spare time. But what emerged was an auditorium seating 118 and space in the upstairs bar for studio performances for smaller audiences. All this was achieved in the space of a year. The aim was, and has remained to put on plays that were challenging for actors and the technical crews and ones which otherwise people would have to go to London to see.
Training by doing was always a part of the club and the concept of small-scale productions in the bar area where first time directors could cut their teeth were introduced. These productions were known as "Fents" in homage to the textile history of the Lace Market area.
In 1977, the opportunity arose to acquire more land and it was decided that, to facilitate fund raising, the Lace Market Theatre Trust should be formed. £40,000 was raised for a three storey extension at the rear and a further £40,000 was raised for its completion in 1984. The building was owned by the Trust and the Nottingham Theatre Club rented it from them.
While the Nottingham Theatre Club continued the policy of challenging drama, the trust began furthering the educational responsibilities of a charity by giving grants to students who were going on to drama school. At that point in time, drama students were only able to apply for discretionary grants from the LEA and these were in short supply.
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