Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out and nurtures creative talent and runs a large education programme for young people. History Originally founded in Tyneside in 1973 by Val McLane, Geoff Gillham and Dave Clark, The company originally toured its work regionally to non-traditional theatre settings, such as community halls and working men's clubs. The company was creating plays and stories that were relevant to the North East community and sought to break down barriers by presenting this work to ordinary working-class people within their own communities. The company has been based in Newcastle Quayside since 1982, expanding over the years to occupy the current premises which combine converted warehouses and Almshouses to create a building which houses a theatre auditorium, café bar, rehearsal spaces and administrative offices. Live Theatre also took over the lease of a new warehouse building on Broad Chare, immediately adjacent to the previous theatre. In 2007 Live Theatre underwent a further capital development. It now has a cabaret style theatre, a studio theatre, renovated rehearsal rooms, a series of dedicated writer's rooms as well as a café, bar and gastro pub, The Broad Chare, all in a restored and refurbished complex of five Grade II listed buildings. Productions Live Theatre develops new writing talent in the region. The company has enjoyed significant relationships with many writers such as CP Taylor, Tom Hadaway, Alan Plater and, more recently, Peter Flannery, Michael Chaplin, Peter Straughan, Julia Darling, Lee Hall, Sean O'Brien and Karen Laws. Many plays have been commissioned and produced over the years which are now known nationally and internationally, such as Close The Coalhouse Door, Cooking with Elvis, Operation Elvis and And a Nightingale Sang. In 2013 Live Theatre celebrated 40 years of creating plays on Tyneside with a programme that included a new national tour of Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters by Bill Kenwright Limited, and sell out runs at Live Theatre of Tyne by Michael Chaplin, Wet House by new talent Paddy Campbell and a revival of Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis. Wet House successfully transferred to the Soho Theatre in 2014. Between January and June 2014 Live Theatre presented a series screenplays in development by writer Lee Hall, which