The Lyric Theatre in Belfast is to shut at the end of the current production.
The Lyric Players Theatre was first opened in 1951 by Mary O'Malley and her husband Pearse seating an audience of 60. The new theatre, which opened in October 1968, seats 300 audience members presenting a new set of commercial challenges. The theatre will temporarily close at the end of its current production 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun' by English playwright Peter Shaffer.
The announcement comes despite the fact that the theatre's first productions were well received with virtually full houses.
Director at the Lyric Players Theatre Christopher Fitz-Simon had no comment to make about the closure apart from the fact that the productions had been going extremely well.
We've had a remarkable response from the public in Belfast for our productions in this really beautiful theatre.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 January 1969.
