Hull New Theatre is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year – and staff are searching for fellow octogenarians to take part in the birthday celebrations.
The theatre’s doors were first opened on Saturday 16 October 1939 with a production of Noel Gay’s Me and My Girl.
And now theatre staff want to find people born in the same year as the famous venue to join in with the festivities.
A spokesperson for the theatre said: “We would like to hear from anyone born in 1939, especially those who came into the world in October, as part of our anniversary marking the very first performance at the theatre.”
The theatre was founded by Peppino Santelgeno, who came to Hull from the Channel Islands to join the Hull Repertory Company.
Performances have been staged at the venue ever since – continuing through the Second World War despite a direct hit in May 1941. It has hosted famous faces including Laurel and Hardy, Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
It survived the threat of becoming a bingo hall and recently underwent a £16m refurbishment, which took 18 months to complete from January 2016 to September 2017.
Those who were born in 1939 can email theatre.press@hcandl.co.uk
