Oxford Playhouse

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Oxford Playhouse
the Playhouse
Oxford Playhouse Oct 2014 geograph-4243594-by-Jaggery.jpg
The theatre entrance on Beaumont Street.
Oxford Playhouse
AddressBeaumont Street
Location Oxford
Coordinates 51°45′17″N1°15′39″W / 51.75472°N 1.26083°W / 51.75472; -1.26083
Public transit Gloucester Green, Oxford railway station
Owner St John's College
OperatorThe Oxford Playhouse Trust
TypeTheatre
Capacity 663
Construction
Built1938
Architect Edward Maufe (exterior)
F. G. M. Chancellor (interior)
Website
www.oxfordplayhouse.com
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameThe Playhouse [1]
Designated12 January 1954 [1]
Reference no.1185150 [1]

Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum.

Contents

History

Inside the auditorium Oxford Playhouse auditorium.JPG
Inside the auditorium

The Playhouse was founded as The Red Barn at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxford, in 1923 by J.B. Fagan. [2] The early history of the theatre is documented by the theatre director, Norman Marshall in his 1947 book, The Other Theatre. [3] Don Chapman also provided a comprehensive study of the theatre in the 2008 book, Oxford Playhouse: High and Low Drama in a University City. [4]

The exterior design of the theatre building on the south side of Beaumont Street was by Sir Edward Maufe, with the interior design by F.G.M. Chancellor; [5] the building was completed in 1938. [6] It is faced with stone, in keeping with the early 19th century Regency buildings in the street.

Actors who have appeared on the stage at the Playhouse include Rowan Atkinson, Ronnie Barker, Dirk Bogarde, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, Ian McDiarmid, Ian McKellen, Dudley Moore, Bill Hicks, and Maggie Smith. Susannah York gave her final stage performance there in August 2010, in Ronald Harwood's Quartet. The journalist and writer Christopher Hitchens worked as a stagehand at the Playhouse during his time as an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford. [7]

The Oxford Playhouse was the base from which Prospect Theatre Company was created by manager Elizabeth Sweeting and resident stage manager Iain Mackintosh in 1961. Between 1963 and 1976, the Prospect Theatre Company toured 75 productions to 125 theatres in 21 countries.[ citation needed ]

The Greek theatre director Minos Volanakis was an associate director at the Playhouse; his productions included Jean Genet's The Maids (1963–4) and The Balcony (1967), and Jean Giraudoux's Madwoman of Chaillot . [8]

Present

A charitable trust runs the Playhouse as a theatre for the local community, through a professional management and direction team. The freehold of the building is owned by St John's College. [9] The theatre was closed for some years for lack of funding, but is now refurbished with a 663-seat capacity in the main auditorium.

Burton Taylor Studio

The entrance to the Burton Taylor Studio theatre Burton-Taylor.jpg
The entrance to the Burton Taylor Studio theatre

Oxford Playhouse has close relations with the University of Oxford and is the home stage of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. On behalf of the university the Playhouse also manages the nearby Burton Taylor Studio, named in honour of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. "The BT" is a 50-seat studio theatre in Gloucester Street, close to the Oxford Playhouse. It originated in 1966, when Richard Burton donated money towards the creation of a rehearsal space, also occasionally used for performance, named the Burton Rooms.

A couple of decades later, students from the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) established the current tradition of the venue as a home for regular student productions. [10] The Burton Taylor Studio programmes a mix of student and professional productions throughout the year. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Maufe</span> English architect and designer

Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on places of worship and memorials. Perhaps his best known buildings are Guildford Cathedral and the Air Forces Memorial. He was a recipient of the Royal Gold Medal for architecture in 1944 and, in 1954, received a knighthood for services to the Imperial War Graves Commission, which he was associated with from 1943 until his death.

<i>The Maids</i> 1947 play by Jean Genet

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">University College Players</span> Theatrical society of University College, Oxford

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arts Theatre</span> Theatre in London, England

The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaumont Street</span> Street in central Oxford, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Street, Oxford</span> Street in central Oxford, England

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Norman Marshall was an English theatrical director, producer and manager who began his theatrical career while still an undergraduate student at Oxford. After leaving university he worked with various small touring companies and in 1926 he joined the Cambridge Festival Theatre, first as a press agent, then as a stage manager, and in 1932 he became their resident director. In 1934, he bought the lease on the small London club theatre, the Gate Theatre Studio, where in the next six years he produced popular intimate revues and many successful plays, some of which later transferred to the West-end stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloucester Green</span>

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Minos Volonakis was a Greek theatre director and translator.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Fagan</span> Actor, theatre manager, producer and playwright (1873–1933)

James Bernard Fagan was an Irish-born actor, theatre manager, producer and playwright active in England. After turning from the law to the stage, Fagan began his acting career, including four years from 1895 to 1899 with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at Her Majesty's Theatre. He then began to write plays, returning eventually to acting during World War I. In 1920, he took over London's Court Theatre as a Shakespearean playhouse and soon began to produce plays at other West End theatres. His adaptation of Treasure Island in 1922 was a hit and became an annual Christmas event.

Lucy Bailey is a British theatre director, known for productions such as Baby Doll at Britain's National Theatre and a notorious Titus Andronicus, described by a critic as "all eye-catchingly visceral but there’s little depth". Bailey founded the Gogmagogs theatre-music group (1995–2006) and was Artistic Director and joint founder of the Print Room theatre in West London (2010-2012). She has worked extensively with Bunny Christie and other leading stage designers, including her husband William Dudley.

Elizabeth Sweeting (1914–1999) was a leader in performing arts and arts administration in England and Australia.

Alderson Burrell Horne (1863–1953) was a British theatre director, under the pseudonym Anmer Hall.

Francis Graham Moon Chancellor, styled professionally as F. G. M. Chancellor, was a Tasmanian architect and designer, based in London. He built a reputation as a competent architect, coming to the notice of Frank Matcham, with whom he worked for around 13 years. When Matcham retired in 1913, Chancellor took over the running of Matcham & Co., and successfully transitioned the company from being one that built theatres to constructing modern cinemas. His works include the renovations of The Old Vic in Waterloo, London, between 1922 and 1929; the new Sadler's Wells Theatre in Clerkenwell (1926–31); and a series of super cinemas, the most notable of which being the State Cinema in Grays, Essex, which opened in 1938.

Henric Hirsch was a Hungarian-Romanian theatre and television director.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Playhouse". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  2. "Oxford Playhouse". Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme . Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  3. Marshall, Norman (1947). The Other Theatre. London: Lehmann J. Lehmann. OL   22345509M.
  4. History of Oxford Playhouse, Oxford Playhouse website, accessed 24 January 2022.
  5. Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Penguin Books. p. 324. ISBN   0-14-071045-0.
  6. Charlie Rose: Greenroom - Christopher Hitchens, 29 February 2008
  7. Chapman (2008, pages 184, 186, 196–197) and The New York Times obituary for Volanakis.
  8. "St John's College | Must see Oxford University Colleges | Things to See & do in Oxford".
  9. 1 2 "Oxford Playhouse: Burton Taylor Studio". Oxford Playhouse. Retrieved 5 February 2015.[ full citation needed ]

Sources