Frank Matcham is considered to be one of the greatest British theatre architects of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and Portsmouth is lucky to have two examples of his 27 or so theatres that remain standing today – The Kings Theatre in Southsea built in 1907, and the New Theatre Royal remodelled in 1900 from C J Phipps’ 1884 theatre.

Dr Sue McClory will discuss Matcham’s rise to fame in comparison with Phipps, and the development of middle-class Southsea and the Kings.