by playwrights not yet as universally recognised or as popular as they would later become. By 1955 the People's was beginning to outgrow its Rye Hill premises, and theatre chairman Arthur Kay enrolled the help of Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud to launch a building appeal fund. Within five years, this allowed the purchase of the former Lyric Cinema in Heaton and a new arts centre opened there in September 1962 with Shaw's Man and Superman. In the same year, the Young People's Theatre, for children aged 11 to 17 was founded, led by People's Theatre members. In 1967 the theatre produced the British Premiere of Arthur Miller's After the Fall. In 1969 Peter Brook came to see the famous Kathkali Dancers. The diamond jubilee of the theatre was celebrated in 1971 with a performance of Shaw's The Philanderer. In 1987 the Royal Shakespeare Company used the theatre as part of their Newcastle season. In 2011 the theatre celebrated its centenary with Shaw's Pygmalion. In 2014, plans were announced to refurbish the theatre and to create a study space which could be used at the same time as performances in the main auditorium. The Arts Council England awarded the theatre £100,000, with £1.5m raised by the theatre itself. The theatre reopened in December 2016 for its annual pantomime. The People's logo This has traditionally been a Phoenix, no doubt reflecting the many times when the theatre had risen from near-disaster to a new life. In the 1960s, as part of the fund-raising campaign for a new home, it was decided that the old design, probably dating from the 1920s, needed modernising. Local graphic designer Peter Reed donated the new design, which is still in use - see the picture. When the old and now empty Rye Hill theatre burnt down, James Garbutt a People's actor and talented artist, salvaged some charred boards from the old stage to create a replica of the new logo to hang in the Greenroom. In 2017, to go along with a major refurbishment of the Heaton site, a new logo was adopted. Notable former members A number of former People's Theatre members have gone on to find success and fame in the professional theatre. These include: Alan Browning, James Garbutt, Fred Pearson, Margaret Jackman, Jack Shepherd, Kevin Whately, Ralph Watson, Tom Goodman-Hill and Andrea Riseborough. Other former People's members who have gone on to find