Miss Horniman and the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester

Miss Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman was an heiress and patron of the arts, being instrumental in the founding of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1904. The Gaiety Theatre, in Manchester, was a run-down music hall when she bought it in 1907. She had it redesigned and refurbished, and established Britain's first regional repertory company. Her management team included director Ben Iden Payne and later, Lewis Casson. The Gaiety offered Euripides, Shakespeare, and Shaw with a firm commitment to 'new drama' and plays by local dramatists, who became known as the 'Manchester School'. Its most celebrated drama was "Hindle Wakes" in 1912, by Stanley Houghton. The Gaiety Company toured in London, the U. S., and Canada until the disbanding of the permanent company in 1917.