Contents
Abolition of censorship of the theatre
1Abolition of censorship of the theatre.#
(1)The noteTheatres Act 1843 is hereby repealed; and none of the powers which were exercisable thereunder by the Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty’s Household shall be exercisable by or on behalf of Her Majesty by virtue of Her royal prerogative.
(2)Where, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, a person, in respect of whom an undertaking was given by another person to be responsible for his maintenance and accommodation, claimed benefit to which he is entitled or is receiving benefit, under the Income Support Regulations or the Housing Benefit Regulations, those Regulations shall have effect as if regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations had not been made.
Licensing of premises for public performance of plays
12Licensing of premises for public performance of plays.#
(1)
(2)Where, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, a person, in respect of whom an undertaking was given by another person to be responsible for his maintenance and accommodation, claimed benefit to which he is entitled or is receiving benefit, under the Income Support Regulations or the Housing Benefit Regulations, those Regulations shall have effect as if regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations had not been made.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3A)Where Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 5) applies in relation to premises, no term which relates to any matter in relation to which requirements or prohibitions are or could be imposed by virtue of that Part shall be included in a licence granted under this Act in respect of those premises.
(4)
13Enforcement of s. 12.#
(1)
(a)
(b)
(i)a parent with care cares for one child only, and
(ii)that child dies,
(2)Where, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, a person, in respect of whom an undertaking was given by another person to be responsible for his maintenance and accommodation, claimed benefit to which he is entitled or is receiving benefit, under the Income Support Regulations or the Housing Benefit Regulations, those Regulations shall have effect as if regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations had not been made.
(a)
(b)
(i)a parent with care cares for one child only, and
(ii)that child dies,
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)
(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(a)
(b)
(6)In relation to Scotland, subsection (5) above shall have effect as if the following were substituted for paragraph (a), that is to say—“a a period of fourteen days from the date of the conviction has expired without an appeal against it having been brought; or”
and in paragraph (b), after “abandoned” there were inserted the words “or deemed to be abandoned”.
14Appeals in respect of licences.#
(1)
(a)
(b)
(c)where—
in the period not exceeding 12 months which begins on the date the child died and throughout which he was entitled to a relevant benefit; or
(2)Where, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, a person, in respect of whom an undertaking was given by another person to be responsible for his maintenance and accommodation, claimed benefit to which he is entitled or is receiving benefit, under the Income Support Regulations or the Housing Benefit Regulations, those Regulations shall have effect as if regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations had not been made.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(a)
(b)
(4)
Miscellaneous and general
15Powers of entry and inspection.#
(1)If a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting, as regards any premises specified in the information—
(a)that a performance of a play is to be given at those premises, and that an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act is likely to be committed in respect of that performance; or
(b)
(i)in a case falling within paragraph (a) above, to attend any performance of a play which may be given there;
(ii)that child dies,
the justice may issue a warrant under his hand empowering any police officer or, in a case falling within paragraph (b) above, any police officer or authorised officer of the licensing authority at any time within fourteen daysone monthfrom the date of the warrant to enter the premises and—
(2)Where, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, a person, in respect of whom an undertaking was given by another person to be responsible for his maintenance and accommodation, claimed benefit to which he is entitled or is receiving benefit, under the Income Support Regulations or the Housing Benefit Regulations, those Regulations shall have effect as if regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations had not been made.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)
(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(7) In this section, “relevant authority” has the meaning given by section 6 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 5) .
16Offences by bodies corporate.#
Where any offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
18Interpretation.#
(1)In this Act—• “licensing authority” means—
(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(a)any dramatic piece, whether involving improvisation or not, which is given wholly or in part by one or more persons actually present and performing and in which the whole or a major proportion of what is done by the person or persons performing, whether by way of speech, singing or action, involves the playing of a role; and
(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b)any ballet given wholly or in part by one or more persons actually present and performing, whether or not it falls within paragraph (a) of this definition;
(bb)note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c)where—
in the period not exceeding 12 months which begins on the date the child died and throughout which he was entitled to a relevant benefit; or
(2)For the purposes of this Act—
(a)a person shall not be treated as presenting a performance of a play by reason only of his taking part therein as a performer;
(b)a person taking part as a performer in a performance of a play directed by another person shall be treated as a person who directed the performance if without reasonable excuse he performs otherwise than in accordance with that person’s direction; and
(c)a person shall be taken to have directed a performance of a play given under his direction notwithstanding that he was not present during the performance;
and a person shall not be treated as aiding or abetting the commission of an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act in respect of a performance of a play by reason only of his taking part in that performance as a performer.
18AMeaning of promotion for private gain.#
(1)For the purposes of this Act a performance is promoted for private gain if, and only if—
(a)any proceeds from the performance, that is to say, any sum paid for admission to the performance; or
(b)any other sums (whenever paid) which, having regard to all the circumstances, can reasonably be regarded as paid wholly or partly for admission to the performance; or
(c)where the performance is advertised (whether to the public or otherwise), any sums not falling within paragraph (b) above which are paid for facilities or services provided for persons admitted to the performance;are applied wholly or partly for purposes of private gain.
(2)If in proceedings for an offence under section 13 (1) above any question arises whether a performance was promoted for private gain and it is proved—
(a)that any sums were paid for admission to the performance or to the premises at which it was given and that the performance was advertised to the public; or
(b)that any sums were paid for facilities or services provided for persons admitted to the performance and that the performance was advertised (whether to the public or otherwise); or
(c)that the amount of any payment falling to be made in connection with the promotion of the performance was determined wholly or partly by reference to the proceeds of the performance or any facilities or services provided for persons admitted to it;the performance shall be deemed to have been promoted for private gain unless the contrary is shown.
(3)Where a performance is promoted by a society which is established and conducted wholly for purposes other than purposes of any commercial undertaking and sums falling within subsection (1) above are applied for any purpose calculated to benefit the society as a whole, the performance shall not be held to be promoted for private gain by reason only that the application of those sums for that purpose results in benefit to any person as an individual.
(4)In subsection (3) above “society” includes any club, institution, organisation or association of persons, by whatever name called.
19†Consequential amendments, repeals and transitional provisions.#
(1)The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in column 2 of that Schedule, being amendments consequential on the foregoing provisions of this Act.
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament repeal or amend any provision in any local Act, including an Act confirming a provisional order, or in any instrument in the nature of a local enactment under any Act, where it appears to him that that provision is inconsistent with, or has become unnecessary or requires modification in consequence of, any provision of this Act or corresponds to any provision repealed by this Act.
(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20Short title, commencement, extent and application to Isles of Scilly.#
(1)This Act may be cited as the Theatres Act 1968.
(2)The provisions of this Act mentioned in subsection (3) below shall come into force on the passing of this Act, and the other provisions of this Act shall come into force on the expiration of a period of two months beginning with the date on which this Act is passed; but a licence granted under this Act during that period, and any requirements imposed under section 17(2) during that period, shall not come into force before the expiration of that period.
(3)The provisions of this Act referred to in subsection (2) above are the following—
(a)sections 1(2), 12(4), 14, 17(2), 18(1) and this section;
(b)section 17(3) so far as it relates to section 14 or to paragraph 7 of Schedule 1;
(c)Schedule 1.
(4)This Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.
(5)In relation to the Isles of Scilly this Act shall have effect as if they were a county and as if for any reference to the council of a county there were substituted a reference to the Council of the Isles of Scilly.
Provisions with respect to performances of plays
2Prohibition of presentation of obscene performances of plays.#
(1)For the purposes of this section a performance of a play shall be deemed to be obscene if, taken as a whole, its effect was such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who were likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to attend it.
(2)Subject to sections 3 and 7 of this Act, if an obscene performance of a play is given, whether in public or private, any person who (whether for gain or not) presented or directed that performance shall be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £400 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months;
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
(3)A prosecution on indictment for an offence under this section shall not be commenced more than two years after the commission of the offence.
(4)No person shall be proceeded against in respect of a performance of a play or anything said or done in the course of such a performance—
(a)for an offence at common law where it is of the essence of the offence that the performance or, as the case may be, what was said or done was obscene, indecent, offensive, disgusting or injurious to morality; or
(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and no person shall be proceeded against for an offence at common law of conspiring to corrupt public morals, or to do any act contrary to public morals or decency, in respect of an agreement to present or give a performance of a play, or to cause anything to be said or done in the course of such a performance.
3Defence of public good.#
(1)A person shall not be convicted of an offence under section 2 of this Act if it is proved that the giving of the performance in question was justified as being for the public good on the ground that it was in the interests of drama, opera, ballet or any other art, or of literature or learning.
(2)It is hereby declared that the opinion of experts as to the artistic, literary or other merits of a performance of a play may be admitted in any proceedings for an offence under section 2 of this Act either to establish or negative the said ground.
4Amendment of law of defamation.#
(1)For the purposes of the law of libel and slander note... the publication of words in the course of a performance of a play shall, subject to section 7 of this Act, be treated as publication in permanent form.
(2)The foregoing subsection shall apply for the purposes of section 3 (slander of title, etc.) of the noteDefamation Act 1952 as it applies for the purposes of the law of libel and slander.
(3)In this section “words” includes pictures, visual images, gestures and other methods of signifying meaning.
(4)This section shall not apply to Scotland.
5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6Provocation of breach of peace by means of public performance of a play.#
(1)Subject to section 7 of this Act, if there is given a public performance of a play involving the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, any person who (whether for gain or not) presented or directed that performance shall be guilty of an offence under this section if—
(a)he did so with intent to provoke a breach of the peace; or
(b)the performance, taken as a whole, was likely to occasion a breach of the peace.
(2)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
7Exceptions for performances given in certain circumstances.#
(1)Nothing in sections 2 to 4 of this Act shall apply in relation to a performance of a play given on a domestic occasion in a private dwelling.
(2)Nothing in sections 2 to 6 of this Act shall apply in relation to a performance of a play given solely or primarily for one or more of the following purposes, that is to say—
(a)rehearsal; or
(b)to enable—
(i)a record or cinematograph film to be made from or by means of the performance; or
(ii)the performance to be broadcast; or
(iii)the performance to be included in a programme service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990) other than a sound or television broadcasting service;
but in any proceedings for an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act alleged to have been committed in respect of a performance of a play note..., if it is proved that the performance was attended by persons other than persons directly connected with the giving of the performance or the doing in relation thereto of any of the things mentioned in paragraph (b) above, the performance shall be taken not to have been given solely or primarily for one or more of the said purposes unless the contrary is shown.
(3)In this section—• “broadcast” means broadcast by wireless telegraphy (within the meaning of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006), whether by way of sound broadcasting or television;• “cinematograph film” means any print, negative, tape or other article on which a performance of a play or any part of such a performance is recorded for the purposes of visual reproduction;• “record” means any record or similar contrivance for reproducing sound, including the sound-track of a cinematograph film;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . note
8Restriction on institution of proceedings.#
Proceedings for an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act note... shall not be instituted in England and Wales except by or with the consent of the Attorney-General.
9Script as evidence of what was performed.#
(1)Where a performance of a play was based on a script, then, in any proceedings for an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act alleged to have been committed in respect of that performance—
(a)an actual script on which that performance was based shall be admissible as evidence of what was performed and of the manner in which the performance or any part of it was given; and
(b)if such a script is given in evidence on behalf of any party to the proceedings then, except in so far as the contrary is shown, whether by evidence given on behalf of the same or any other party, the performance shall be taken to have been given in accordance with that script.
(2)In this Act “script”, in relation to a performance of a play, means the text of the play (whether expressed in words or in musical or other notation) together with any stage or other directions for its performance, whether contained in a single document or not.
10Power to make copies of scripts.#
(1)If a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent has reasonable grounds for suspecting—
(a)that an offence under section 2, 5 or 6 of this Act has been committed by any person in respect of a performance of a play; or
(b)that a performance of a play is to be given and that an offence under the said section 2, 5 or 6 is likely to be committed by any person in respect of that performance,
he may make an order in writing under this section relating to that person and that performance.
(2)Every order made under this section shall be signed by the police officer by whom it is made, shall name the person to whom it relates, and shall describe the performance to which it relates in a manner sufficient to enable that performance to be identified.
(3)Where an order under this section has been made, any police officer, on production if so required of the order—
(a)may require the person named in the order to produce, if such a thing exists, an actual script on which the performance was or, as the case may be, will be based; and
(b)if such a script is produced to him, may require the person so named to afford him an opportunity of causing a copy thereof to be made.
(4)Any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (3) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(5)Where, in the case of a performance of a play based on a script, a copy of an actual script on which that performance was based has been made by or on behalf of a police officer by virtue of an order under this section relating to that performance, section 9(1) of this Act shall apply in relation to that copy as it applies in relation to an actual script on which the performance was based.
11Delivery of scripts of new plays to British Museum.#
(1)Where after the coming into force of this section there is given in Great Britain a public performance of a new play, being a performance based on a script, a copy of the actual script on which that performance was based shall be delivered to the Trustees of the British Museum free of charge within the period of one month beginning with the date of the performance; and the Trustees shall give a written receipt for every script delivered to them pursuant to this section.
(2)If the requirements of subsection (1) above are not complied with in the case of any performance to which that subsection applies, any person who presented that performance shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
(3)In this section “public performance of a new play” means a public performance of a play of which no previous public performance has ever been given in Great Britain, but does not include a public performance of a play which—
(a)is based on a script substantially the same as that on which a previous performance of a play given there was based; or
(b)is based substantially on a text of the play which has been published in the United Kingdom.
(4)For the purposes of this section a performance of a play given solely or primarily for one or more of the purposes mentioned in section 7(2)(a) and (b) of this Act shall be disregarded.
Schedule 1 · Provisions with respect to Licences
Grant, renewal and transfer of licences
(1)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Notice in respect of applications for grant, renewal or transfer of licences
(2)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(a)
(b)
Fees
(3)
(1)
(2)
Transmission of licence on death of holder
(4)
Cancellation of licences
(5)
Provisional grant of licences
(6)
(1)
(2)
Variation of terms of licence
(7)
(2)
Schedule 2 · Consequential Amendments
Schedule 3 · . . .
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.