The Birmingham Rep: the star machine
Albert Finney, Peggy Ashcroft and Laurence Olivier all cut their teeth at the Birmingham Rep. As the curtains go up on its new home, Michael Billington, a punter since the mid-50s, looks at what lies aheadIt's a startling thought that Britain's regional rep movement owes its existence to groceries. In 1908, Annie Horniman created the Gaiety theatre in Manchester with money from the family tea business. And in 1913 Ba…