Richard Leacroft was Principal Lecturer in the School of Architecture, City of Leicester Polytechnic. In addition to practising as an architect, he studied decor at the London Theatre Studio and worked as a stage designer and scenic artist in the repertory theatres at Sheffield and Leicester. His survey of theatre building from Ancient Greece to the present day, Theatre and Playhouse, written with his wife, Helen Leacrof, was published in 1984, while The Development of the English Playhouse was revised and republished by Methuen Drama in 1988 after the first edition of 1973.
