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Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 seats on two levels. It is a Grade II Listed Building. The Duchess Theatre was purchased in 2005 by Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer forming part of the Nimax Theatres group. History The Duchess Theatre was designed by Ewen Barr and constructed by F. G. Minter Ltd for Arthur Gibbons. The theatre is built with the stalls below street level, both to overcome the scale of the site and to maintain the rights of neighbours to ancient lights. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 with a play called ''Tunnel Trench'' by Hubert Griffith. The interior decoration scheme was introduced in 1934 under the supervision of Mary Wyndham Lewis, wife of J. B. Priestley. The original interiors were Art Deco in style, designed by Marc Henri and Gaston Laver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as ''Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city#National capitals, Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national Government of the United Kingdom, government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the Counties of England, counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as ''Reach for the Sky'' (1956), ''Sink the Bismarck!'' (1960), '' Alfie'' (1966), '' Educating Rita'' (1983) and '' Shirley Valentine'' (1989), as well as three James Bond films: '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967), '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and '' Moonraker'' (1979). Early life Lewis Gilbert was born as Louis Laurie Isaacs in Clapton, London, to a second-generation family of music hall performers,"Lewis Gilbert (1920)" BFI screenonline Retrieved 14 April 2012 and spent his early years travelling with his parents, Ada (Griver), who was of |
Emlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire. He was the eldest of the three surviving sons of Mary (née Williams) a former maid-servant and Richard Williams, a greengrocer. He spoke only Welsh until the age of eight. Later he said he would probably have begun working in the mines at age 12 if he had not caught the attention of Sarah Grace Cooke, the model for Miss Moffat in ''The Corn Is Green''. She was a teacher of French at the grammar school in Holywell, Flintshire in 1915, where Williams had gone on a scholarship. Over the next seven years she encouraged him in his studies and helped pay for him to stay with a French friend of hers in Haute-Savoie in France, where he spent three months perfecting his French. When he was 17 she helped him win a scholarship to Christ Church ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mischief Theatre
Mischief Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 2008 by a group of students from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in West London, and directed by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. The group originally began by doing improvised comedy shows, but by 2012 they expanded into comedic theatrical performances that includes choreographed routines, jokes, and stunts. The company is best known for their performances as the fictional theatre company, The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, who attempt several amateur performances that comedically go wrong. Significant work by the company includes the award-winning 2012 stage play ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' and the BBC television series ''The Goes Wrong Show''. Several of the stage performances by the company have been shown in the West End of London, and also in theatres across the United Kingdom, North America, and Europe. History Mischief Theatre was first formed in 2008 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Whelan
Peter Whelan (3 October 1931 – 3 July 2014) was a British playwright. Whelan was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, England. As a student from 1951–55 Whelan was an inspirational figure in the newly-formed Drama Society at the experimental University College of North Staffordshire, later Keele University. At Keele he met his wife Frangcon Price, who also excelled in drama as a student and in her later career. They married in 1958. His works includes seven plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, most of which are period pieces based on real historical events. The first of these was ''Captain Swing'' in 1979. Another was ''The Herbal Bed'', about a court case involving William Shakespeare's daughter. It was first produced at the RSC's The Other Place theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1996 and was revived at The Duchess Theatre from April to October 1997. In 2008, his play '' The School of Night'', originally produced at The Other Place theatre, in November 1992, made it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Herbal Bed
''The Herbal Bed'' (1996) is a play by Peter Whelan, written specifically for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play is set in the year 1613 and is about Susanna Hall, daughter of William Shakespeare, who is accused of adultery with local haberdasher Rafe Smith. Her husband, Dr John Hall, is suspicious of their relationship, but stands up for his wife when she takes her accuser to court for slander. Though Susanna's father is regularly mentioned, his name is never specified and he never appears. The play ends as he is about to enter. In the original 1996 production at The Other Place theatre, the leading role of John Hall was played by Liam Cunningham. Susanna was played by Teresa Banham. The accuser Jack Lane was played by David Tennant and Smith by Joseph Fiennes. The production was directed by Michael Attenborough. During 1997 the play had a successful run at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End. John Hall was played by Lorcan Cranitch. In 1998, a NYC production pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and on tour across the UK and internationally. The company's home is in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it has redeveloped its Royal Shakespeare and Swan theatres as part of a £112.8-million "Transformation" project. The theatres re-opened in November 2010, having closed in 2007. The new buildings attracted 18,000 visitors within the first week and received a positive media response both upon opening, and following the first full Shakespeare performances. Performances in Stratford-upon-Avon continued throughout the Transformation project at the temporary Courtyard Theatre. As well as the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the RSC produces new work from living artists and develops creative links with theatre-mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.English Heritage listing accessed 28 April 2007 Designed by the architect for owner , it became the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street when it opened its doors on 21 February 1901, with the American musical comedy ''< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don't Dress For Dinner
''Don't Dress for Dinner'' is an adaptation of a two-act play titled ''Pyjama Pour Six'' by French playwright Marc Camoletti, who wrote '' Boeing-Boeing.'' It ran in London for six years and opened on Broadway in 2012. Productions After a successful run of ''Pyjama Pour Six'' in Paris, the English speaking rights were purchased by London producer Mark Furness who commissioned playwright Robin Hawdon to adapt the play for English speaking audiences. The English version opened in the West End at the Apollo Theatre in March 1991, directed by Peter Farago and starring Simon Cadell as Robert, Su Pollard as Suzette, Jane How as Jaqueline, and John Quayle as Bernard. The reviewer for ''The Guardian'' wrote: "Hurtling along at the speed of light, Marc Camoletti's breathtaking farce is a near faultless piece of theatrical invention. Within seconds we are drawn into a delicious web of marital treachery which accelerates with classic symmetry to an all-star denouement... Originally staged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable '' Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Players' Theatre
The Players' Theatre was a London theatre which opened at 43 King Street, Covent Garden, on 18 October 1936. The club originally mounted period-style musical comedies, introducing Victorian-style music hall in December 1937. The threat of World War II German bombing prompted a move in October 1940 to a basement at 13 Albemarle Street, Piccadilly and then after the cessation of hostilities, to Villiers Street, Charing Cross, opening on 14 February 1946. Other intermediate locations of the theatre include the Arts Theatre and the St John's Wood private residence of a member, Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley). Overwhelmed by debt, the theatre closed in 2002, although the Players' Theatre Club continues to perform music hall shows in other venues. Appearing at the Players' Theatre were Leonard Sachs (who was often the chairman), Patricia Hayes, Hattie Jacques, James Robertson Justice, Peter Ustinov, Clive Dunn, Ian Carmichael, Joan Sterndale-Bennett, Vida Hope, and Denis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.Royalty Theatre at the Arthur Lloyd site accessed 23 March 2007 The architect was . The theatre's opening was ill-fated, and it was little used for a decade. It changed its name twice and was used by an opera company, amateur drama companies and for French pieces. In 1861, it was renamed the New Royalty Theatre, and the next year it was leased by Mrs |
