Actors and youth theatre members were among the protesters

The demonstration attracted a number of children from Derby Playhouse's youth theatre and their parents.

The Playhouse has gone into liquidation and talks are under way to try to find a buyer.

Actors Ben Roberts from Derbyshire and Glenn Carter, a Playhouse regular who travelled from his home in London, were among the protesters.

It is without question if not the best certainly one of the top five regional theatres in the country Glenn Carter, actor

Mr Roberts, who starred in a production of Treasure Island before it was cancelled, said there was no financial reason to close the theatre.

He said: "If the council had a problem with the management of the theatre, why didn't they get rid of the management?"

Mr Carter, who played astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the previous Playhouse production Moon Landing and who has appeared on Broadway and in the West End, said the closure was a "travesty".

"It has the best reputation now that it's ever had. It's commanding West End actors and well-known celebrities to come up from London and work here, which is rare for actors of that calibre," he said.