Alan Durband pounds by means of innovative seven-year tax-free covenants for the conversion of the building. It was a popular theatre specialising in local Liverpool settings & political subjects which gave opportunities to new playwrights – most famous of whom is probably Willy Russell (to whom Durband lent his Welsh cottage to write 'Educating Rita') and to actors such as: Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce & Julie Walters who joined the Theatre company around 1975. To mark this era, Willy Russell unveiled a plaque in memory of Alan Durband at the theatre in 1998 in the company of actor Pete Postlethwaite
Peter McKintosh Being Earnest, Hay Fever, Harvey, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Another Country, Viva Forever!, Death and the Maiden, Butley, Love Story, Prick Up Your Ears, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Donkeys’ Years, The Dumb Waiter, Fiddler on the Roof, A Woman of No Importance, Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine (West End); Guys and Dolls, Uncle Vanya, Antony and Cleopatra, The Scarlet Letter, Just So, Pal Joey, Another Country (Chichester Festival Theatre); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Sound of Music, Crazy For You, Hello Dolly! (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Winslow Boy (Old Vic/Roundabout, NY); Noises Off (Old Vic/West End/UK tour); Our Country’s Good,