Sue Charlton, from Hastings, said: "My mother, Daphne Charlton, nee Gordon-Jones, was born and brought up in Brighton and when I was young, she used to often mention the Theatre Royal.

"When Daphne was 12 she won a 'Bit Bat' competition on the Palace Pier and was grandly presented with the prize at the Theatre Royal.

"She went to Brighton Art School in 1939. When she was 16 she became friendly with the pianist at the Theatre, Douglas Addey, who composed a song for her. She spent a lot of time at the theatre watching films from the gods as well as helping back stage as much as she could.

"Daphne knew actor Derek Francis, who also attended Brighton Art School. When he left he worked at the theatre and was quite the prankster, often putting on disguises and make-up to play tricks on other theatre workers - including Douglas and Daphne.

"It sounded like a fun place to spend time and she had some fond memories."

Heather Driscoll is a broadcast journalist and designer. She said: "In the summer of 2006 I was asked to co-present the Brighton Festival Show for BBC Southern Counties Radio and I was launched into the zany surreal world that is the two-week festival.

"One of my first interviews was with Hollywood actor Richard E Grant, in the theatre bar, reputedly haunted by the old stage manager, who lived in the rooms years before.

"He was actually very charming, far more so than Withnail could ever hope to be.

"Everything Richard does, seems to be at double speed and when our time was up, a quick handshake and he was gone again in a flash, back to scrawl a signature in another hundred books, before curtain up."

Doreen Kneller said: "My earliest memory of the theatre is from 1942, when I was about four. My grandmother worked in the stalls bar and I used to go and see her in the afternoons.

"I remember all the sparkling glasses behind the bar and during the interval you would be served afternoon tea on a tray, with china cups. It was really exciting.

"The best thing though was the autographs. John Keats was the general manager at the time. My cousin and I gave him our autograph books and he went off and collected all these amazing signatures for us.

"One of my best memories about the theatre is from the Fifties. I must have been about 17. Knitted poodles were all the rage at the time. It was the week Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth were down there doing a production of 'And So To Bed'.

"She was mad on dogs, so I knitted her a poodle and took it down for her. She was so delighted that she sorted out a free ticket for me and my dad to see the production. It was a lovely show and afterwards she invited me to the theatre bar for a drink. She was a lovely lady and very grateful for the poodle. I wonder what happened to it?"