Guiseley Theatre was built in 1867 by Sir Matthew William Thompson.
He gave the building to the people of Guiseley for the use of the
community. At that time it was known as "The Town Hall", and although
it was maintained by Guiseley UDC and then Aireborough UDC, it was
never used as municipal offices other than housing a part-time Rates
collection office. Shortly after Aireborough was incorporated into
Leeds Metropolitan District, the Authority considered closing Guiseley
Town Hall. The Hall, however, was still used by many community groups,
including GAOS, and so, with the cooperation of all the users, the
Society took over the administration of the Hall in 1985. We have
continued to administer the renamed Guiseley Theatre for the benefit of
the whole community of Guiseley and its environs.
During the time GAOS have administered the Theatre we have:
- Refurbished many parts of the building.
- Redecorated throughout. The main auditorium has been repainted in
a rich colour scheme to give it the "feel" of a living, intimate
theatre.
- Constructed lighting and sound control rooms and installed an
amplification system.
- Renewed the central heating boilers and hot water system.
- Built a scenery construction workshop at the rear of the Theatre.
- Converted old wartime ARP offices behind the theatre into a self
contained rehearsal room.
- Redecorated ground floor rooms.
- Conducted a very successful fundraising campaign in order to
complete replace the seating in the stalls area of the auditorium.
- Stairlift recently installed
Click here to see a seating plan of the theatre.