In this hands-on account of the creation of new theatre spaces spanning a century, Iain Mackintosh offers a compelling history that is part memoir, part impassioned call to rethink the design of our theatre spaces. As the originator of theatre designs as diverse as the Cottesloe, London, the new Glyndebourne Opera, the Orange Tree Theatre London and the Tina Packer Playhouse Massachusetts, he discovered why the shows worked in some theatres and did not in others. It is this unique blend of expertise and experience that informs this riveting account of the creation of many of the best-known theatre spaces in Britain, besides many international examples including the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, the Oslo Opera House, and examples from Germany, the Netherlands Brazil, Australia, India and Singapore.

Running throughout, is a consideration of factors which have shaped design thinking during this time and which demand attention today:

* the influence of modernism on the development of theatre spaces cocooned in brutalist concrete

* the consensus which emerged between architects, directors and stage designers that the theatre space should provide a neutral background to their work

* an examination of how we should handle much loved old theatres, allowing them to be seen not only as historic spaces but as successful homes for the theatre of today

* the threat posed by simultaneous transmission of live theatre, and the effect of the forced closure of theatres

Functionalism had been limited to what can be measured, ignoring the fun of theatre going and failing to recognise that in live theatre the audience has an active role. After the longest theatre closures in history driven by the pandemic of 2020/21, Mackintosh argues that now is the time to rediscover the routes travelled over the last century and where we might now go.