Old Rep

The Old Rep

The Old Rep in October 2010
Address	Station Street, B5 4DY Birmingham England
Coordinates	52°28′36″N 1°53′54″W / 52.47678°N 1.89828°W / 52.47678; -1.89828
Owner	Birmingham City Council
Operator	Birmingham Ormiston Academy
Type	Proscenium arch
Capacity	385 (including 2 wheelchair spaces)
Construction
Opened	15 February 1913 (1913-02-15)
Architect	S. N. Cooke
Website
oldreptheatre.co.uk

The Old Rep (originally Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, constructed in 1913, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. The theatre was a permanent home for Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Company, formed in 1911 from his amateur theatre group, The Pilgrim Players, founded in 1907. Jackson funded the construction of the theatre and established his professional company there.

Architect S. N. Cooke,^[1] a colleague from the Birmingham School of Art, collaborated with Barry Jackson in the creation of the theatre. Both Jackson and Cooke took inspiration from the democratic nature of theatres that they had visited in Germany. The design of The Old Rep was particularly influenced by Max Littmann's 1908 Künstlertheater in Munich.^[2]

In 2014, Birmingham Ormiston Academy, also known as BOA, successfully tendered for^{[clarification needed]} The Old Rep Theatre.^{[citation needed]}

The theatre is situated just opposite New Street Station, from which a blue plaque, above the theatre's first floor windows, to Barry Jackson can be seen. Two doors down, Britain's oldest working cinema can be found, the Electric Cinema.