When Tunstall had a theatre, by Mervyn Edwards

Tunstall's first theatre was built on Booth’s Fields – a popular site for circus entertainments - at the junction of Sneyd Street (now Ladywell Road) and Victoria Street (now Harewood Road).

It was originally known as the Burslem and Tunstall Prince of Wales Theatre, though “Burslem” was soon dropped from the title. It was apparently known as the St. James’ Hall in later years, before assuming the name of the Theatre Royal, which name appears on the 1878 Ordnance Survey Map.

It opened in 1865 and was initially successful. The nearest other theatres were in Hanley and Newcastle. The historian Scarratt recalled that Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, the famous tragedian, appeared at the theatre. It eventually declined in popularity and closed around 1880. Possible reasons for this failure are given by William Scarratt: aside from a horse-tram connecting Burslem and Hanley, there was no co-ordinated transport system in the Potteries, so customers had to walk to the venue from neighbouring towns along poorly-made footpaths. Scarratt also hints that Potteries parochialism contributed to the theatre’s downfall: “Tunstall alone could not support one, and the outlying villages were too inert or prejudiced to give any encouragement.”

In 1882, the building was taken over by the Salvation Army as their Northern Potteries Citadel. 1889 saw the building cleaned and partly-rebuilt. Only the four outer walls now remained of the old theatre, and an entirely new, semi-circular gallery was erected, with staircases leading up to it.

The Salvation Army moved to new premises in 1998 and a pottery firm, PK Ceramics, took it over in 1999.