...in her beloved Lake Distict

Victoria Wood is to have a theatre named in her honour in her beloved Lake District.

The 260-seat Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere has announced that it is to become the Victoria Wood Theatre from January.

Wood had a cottage in nearby Ambleside which she left to her children Grace and Henry after he death in 2016 at the age of 62. Her will instructed them not to sell it ‘so long as it's enjoyed by family’.

The comedian was also a trustee and patron of the Old Laundry Theatre, which was opened in 1992 by husband-and-wife team Roger Glossop and Charlotte Scott in – as the name suggests – a disused laundry. They also turned the neighbouring building into the World of Beatrix Potter attraction, which Wood officially opened.

The couple first met Wood while working as stage manager and designer on Wood’s musical Talent at the Sheffield Crucible in 1978 and remained lifelong friends, going on family holidays together.

They are also trustees of the Victoria Wood Foundation, which  sponsors the ‘spirit of the Fringe’ prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Glossop told today's Sunday Times: ‘People do forget very quickly. The trust is intent on people remembering Vic and her remarkable talent. So what we want from these legacy projects is to keep the name bouncing along.’

Lilley added: ‘We want her name to live on, not just for those of us who were of an age to see the TV show or see her stand-up.’

Wood directed a revival of Talent  in the Old Laundry Theatre in 2009, and four years later, a play based on her ITV drama Housewife 49 had its premiere there.

To mark its reopening as The Victoria Wood Theatre, the venue is staging the jukebox musical Fourteen Again, with Everybody’s Talking About Jamie writer Tom MacRae penning a book based around the comedian’s songs. The show previews from  May 1 with a gala night on what would have been Victoria’s birthday, May 19.

Published: 9 Nov 2025