Leeds lagged behind neighbouring towns and cities in building its first theatre; however in 1771 Tate Wilkinson opened 'The Theatre' south of the river on Hunslet Lane.

It offered a summer season of plays, operas, burlesques, and pantomimes, and stood as the only theatre in Leeds for many decades.

Operas were prominent in The Theatre for its near 100 year history, with each evening's entertainment consisting of at least two contrasting performances. With a limited local audience, The Theatre had a large rolling stock of different entertainments to keep audiences returning night after night.

Thomas and Sally was performed twice in The Theatre's opening season of 1771, and frequently returned. We also have record of the opera being performed at the New Concert Hall on Vicar Lane in 1767 (there are no records for the exact site of the concert hall, and it appears to have been demolished as early as 1781).

Condititions in The Theatre were shoddy, at best, as this account from 1810 demonstrates:

"The house is about the size of Richmond [Theatre Royal] … The theatre is miserable and cold, half the upper part of it admitting the wind and rain. The receipts are in general so bad that the manger does not think it worthwhile to repair it, and it is killing his wretched performers … Tho’ I have take every precaution by clothing myself in flannel, and wearing a cloath dress up to my throat, yet I have suffered greatly from colds and their pleasant consequences, but I must attribute it to the changes of free at the theatres, in dressing rooms running down with wet; at Leeds I was obliged to stand on my great coat to keep my feet from wet”