10 Leeds Playhouse, I Have Been Here Before production files, 1988

In the 1960s, Leeds was the largest city in the country without a regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1969 following a five-year campaign to open a professional civic theatre in the city.

The Leeds Playhouse opened in a temporary site on the University of Leeds campus. Twenty years later the theatre moved to its current city centre location on Quarry Hill and was renamed the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

One of the last plays to be staged in the old venue was I Have Been Here Before written by J. B. Priestley. It received its first performance in 1937. It is one of his "time" plays, exploring the theory that whatever happens has already occurred many times and will do so again.

These documents show every aspect of the work involved in a modern theatrical production. They provide an exceptionally rich record of one of the UK’s most important regional repertory theatres.