Epstein Theatre

About

The Epstein Theatre, formerly Neptune Theatre, is a theatre in Liverpool, England. The theatre, a Grade II listed building, closed on 30 June 2023 following a decision by Liverpool City Council to end its financial support to the venue. The venue has since reopened, although its future is not yet clear.

History: The theatre originally opened in 1913 as Crane's Music Hall. The Crane Brothers' music store had been trading for several years when they opened the music hall above their store on Hanover Street in central Liverpool. Over the first few years, many amateur drama groups staged productions there, thus leading to its renaming as the Crane Theatre in 1938. Little changed over the next twenty years, until Summer of 1967 when the Liverpool Corporation took over the ownership of the building spending £7,000 on a refurbishment including a front of house bar (now known as Brian's Bar), the stage was rebuilt and the Hanover House ‘Good's Lift’ was installed (located on school lane, granting access to stalls of the theatre only). Re-opening as "The Neptune" in 1968, the Liverpool Corporation believed that the theatre "should be ran by local people for local people". The name was...