A look back at 2024-25

What a year we’ve had at Lawrence Batley Theatre as we marked 30 years as the only professional theatre in Kirklees.

We're proud to share this short film which showcases some of the highlights of the last year.

We continued to bring the very best theatre to the people of Huddersfield on their doorstep, welcoming over 75,000 people through our doors to see world-class drama, dance, comedy and everything in between.

Our theatre champions diversity. We became an official Theatre of Sanctuary, recognising the support we give to refugee and sanctuary seeking groups in Kirklees. We continued to work closely with our Community Ambassadors and members of the South Asian community to make sure everyone feels welcome here.
 
We love to showcase West Yorkshire talent, putting Northern voices and stories on our stages. We supported the development of new shows from our Associate Artists including Gary Clarke Company’s DETENTION and local playwright Philip Stokes’s play Shellshocked which toured to Australia AND New York, showcasing the quality of work coming out of Gods Own County to an international audience. 

We celebrated our 30^th birthday with the only way we know how, a big old party! We marked the occasion with a special exhibition. Theatre30 featured 30 portraits captured by local photographer Daniel Johnson Gray celebrating people and stories from the theatre’s 30 year history. 80 people took part in our community production. The Great Gatsby, adapted by local writer Chris O’Connor, gave local people the chance to shine on our main stage and perform in ways they never thought possible. And thanks to your generous donations, we raised a whopping £30,000 in our 30^th year, helping us to keep making an impact. 

Community continues to be at the heart of what we do.Over 6,000 people took part in a class or workshop, encouraging creativity and building connections and 1000s of local people treaded our boards as members of amateur companies or performing arts schools. We provided thousands of young people with opportunities and experiences that make a lasting impact, helping to discover their potential and build confidence that lasts a lifetime.

Our pantomime just gets bigger and better! This year more than 22,000 people joined us across the festive season for Dick Whittington – a panto with a very special Lawrence Batley Theatre twist that was hysterical, bonkers and so rock n roll. Our Christmas Hero’s campaign smashed all records with nearly £16,000 of generous donations meaning we were able to invite 800 people to ours to experience the magic of panto (oh yes we did!)

We are incredibly proud of everything we have achieved in this landmark year. As a registered charity we can’t do it without you, so continue to see performances, buy an interval ice cream or grab a pint from the bar and consider making a donation so next year the impact we make can be even bigger!

Thank you.