The Dukes Lancaster Lancaster's award winning independent theatre, film, art and education venue

The Dukes is an award-winning producing theatre, the only in Lancashire, running rich theatre, film, art and education programmes. The Dukes has been an independent cinema since it opened in 1971, The Queen, as Duke of Lancaster, had given her approval for use of the name Duke’s Playhouse, and the official opening was conducted by Lord Eccles, Paymaster General and Minister for the Arts.

The first event at The Dukes was the screening of the film, Private Road, which was quite controversial for its time. Since then, The Dukes has become a hugely important organisation on the cultural landscape of Lancaster and the surrounding area.