×


 x 

Shopping cart
10%OFFDon Chapman - Oxford Playhouse - 9781902806877 - V9781902806877
Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.

Oxford Playhouse

€ 17.99
€ 16.19
You save € 1.80!
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for Oxford Playhouse Paperback. Tells the story of the Oxford Playhouse. This work traces the history of this theater back to its earliest roots in a production of Agamemnon in 1880 which led to the founding of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, the rebuilding of Oxford's New Theater and, eventually, the launch of the Playhouse itself. Num Pages: 368 pages, 54 illustrations. BIC Classification: 1DBKESF; AN. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 233 x 156 x 20. Weight in Grams: 642.
Don Chapman tells for the first time the story of the "Oxford Playhouse", to coincide with the seventieth anniversary of its present home in Beaumont Street, Oxford. He traces the history of this great theater back to its earliest roots in a production of Agamemnon in 1880 which led to the founding of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, the rebuilding of Oxford's New Theater and, eventually, the launch of the Playhouse itself. Jane Ellis was the 'young, obscure actress' from London who made it happen, motivated by a desire for a venue where she herself might play decent roles. She asked J.B. Fagan (who was to produce the first successful Chekhov play in England) to be the theater's first director. Subsequent directors who made their mark included Stanford Holme, Eric Dance (who rebuilt the theater in Beaumont Street in 1938), Frank Shelley, Peter Hall, Peter Wood, Frank Hauser, Minos Volanakis, Gordon McDougall, Nicolas Kent and Richard Williams.The book also celebrates a galaxy of actors including Flora Robson, John Gielgud, Maggie Smith, Ronnie Barker, Judi Dench and Helena Bonham-Carter and records the first steps of countless students from Peter Brook to Maria Aitken, Diana Quick to Rowan Atkinson, including a few, like Edward Heath and Joanna Trollope, who gained distinction in other spheres. Most fascinating is the role of the University of Oxford. Using the legal powers invested in Vice Chancellors, Dr Lewis Farnell almost stifled the Playhouse at birth in 1923. And even from 1961 to 1987, when the Playhouse was the University Theater, Dr Chapman describes its relationship with the University as 'a shotgun marriage that ended in a messy divorce'.Since reopening in 1991 following a four-year closure, the theater has flourished as an independent trust with support from the University, Arts Council England and other donors, staging a varied program to delight audiences old and new and benefiting in the process from the sea change in academic attitudes to drama. Thea Shurrock, Rosamund Pike and Holly Kendrick are just three of more recent students who have followed in the footsteps of Michael Palin, Imogen Stubbs and Mel Smith and made names for themselves.

Product Details

Format
Paperback
Publication date
2009
Publisher
University of Hertfordshire Press United Kingdom
Number of pages
368
Condition
New
Number of Pages
368
Place of Publication
Hatfield, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781902806877
SKU
V9781902806877
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-19

About Don Chapman
Don Chapman has been an avid Playhouse-goer since his teens. From 1959-94 he was the Oxford Mail theatre critic. His history draws on the research for which the University of Leicester awarded him his doctorate in 2006.

Reviews for Oxford Playhouse

Goodreads reviews for Oxford Playhouse


Subscribe to our newsletter

News on special offers, signed editions & more!