Belgrade Theatre Commission (number 219163). The Belgrade acquired its name in recognition and thanks for a gift of timber from the Yugoslavian (today Serbian) capital city of Belgrade (Coventry's official sister city), that was used extensively in the construction of the auditorium. Since opening in 1958, the theatre has established itself as a centre for the new and innovative productions. Having pioneered the Theatre-in-Education movement in the 1960s the theatre continues to work with disadvantaged young people and uses drama as a tool to develop personal and social skills. Their most successful programme "Acting Out" has been commissioned by Coventry's LEA for
Opera in English opera "The Mountain Sylph" (1834), often mistakenly claimed as the first Sung-through (i.e. completely sung) English opera, which was his only major success (and was later parodied by Gilbert and Sullivan in "Iolanthe"). Among the main lanes in London for the production of English language opera in those times were Drury Lane, the Princess's Theatre and the Lyceum. The King's Theatre and the Covent Garden, which were the two major opera houses of the city, featured mostly Italian and French opera (the latter usually translated into Italian). This was a source of continuous vexation for English composers who, until late