page_title: Theatre in Birmingham
section_title: Touring venues and companies
hierarchical_section_title: Theatre in Birmingham / Contemporary theatre / Drama / Touring venues and companies
caption_attribution_description: E=MC2 Performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet in February 2011 Tokyo photo: Bill Cooper
context_page_description: Birmingham is an important center for theatre in the United Kingdom. The earliest known performances in the city were medieval pageants and miracle plays. Birmingham's first permanent theaters and theatrical companies were founded in the 1740s, drawing both actors and performance styles from the fashionable theatres of London. During World War II, the Birmingham Blitz forced all performance venues in the city to close; most would stay closed throughout the war. The postwar introduction of television led to further theatre closures.
  Today, Birmingham is home to three major producing theatres--Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Old Rep, and the Blue Orange Theatre--as well as a number of touring venues, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Birmingham Opera Company.
context_section_description: The Alexandra Theatre and the Birmingham Hippodrome host large-scale touring productions, while professional drama is performed on a wide range of stages across the city, including the Old Rep, the Crescent Theatre, the Custard Factory, the Old Joint Stock Theatre, the Blue Orange Theatre, the Drum in Aston and the mac in Cannon Hill Park.During the 70s, mac, then known as the Midlands Arts Centre for Young People had its own professional puppet theatre and resident theatre company, members of the theatre company included Mike Leigh, Brian Blessed and Sir Tony Robinson.
  Touring theatre companies in Birmingham include the experimental Stan's Cafe, the politically radical Banner Theatre, the Birmingham Stage Company and the Maverick Theatre Company.
caption: Birmingham Royal Ballet performing in Tokyo in 2011
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