HOME



picture info

Theatre Of Birmingham
Birmingham is an important centre for theatre in the United Kingdom. The earliest known performances in the city were medieval pageants and miracle plays. Birmingham's first permanent theatres and theatrical companies were founded in the 1740s, drawing both actors and performance styles from the fashionable theatres of London. During World War II, the Birmingham Blitz forced all performance venues in the city to close; most would stay closed throughout the war. The postwar introduction of television led to further theatre closures. Today, Birmingham is home to Four major producing theatres--Birmingham Repertory Theatre, The Crescent Theatre, the Old Rep, and the Blue Orange Theatre—as well as a number of touring venues, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Birmingham Opera Company. History Early performers and venues What evidence remains of drama in medieval Birmingham suggests that it was largely religious in its basis. The Guild of the Holy Cross was established in th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Birmingham Hippodrome
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England. Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End shows, pantomime and drama. With a regular annual attendance of over 600,000, the Hippodrome is the busiest single theatre in the United Kingdom, and the busiest venue for dance outside London. History The first venue built on the Hippodrome site was a building of assembly rooms in 1895. In 1899 the venue was redesigned by local architect F. W. Lloyd, a stage and circus ring was added together with a Moorish tower (removed 1963) and the enterprise named it the "Tower of Varieties". After failing, this was soon rebuilt as a normal variety theatre, reopened as the "Tivoli" in 1900, finally becoming "The Hippodrome" under the ownership of impresario Thomas Barrasford in October 1903. Th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Medieval Pageant
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi, which began after the thirteenth century. This festival reenacted the entire history of the world, in processional performance, from Bible's Genesis to the Apocalypse, employing hundreds of performers and mobile scenic elements. Plays were performed on mobile stages, called ''waggons'', that traveled through towns so plays could be watched consecutively. Each waggon was sponsored by a guild who wrote, designed, and acted in the plays. 20th century revival The form was revived in the early 20th century by the English dramatist Louis N. Parker, who staged the Sherbourne Pageant in 1905, followed by the Warwick Pageant in 1906. The success of these productions led to a proliferation of pageant plays in Engla ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


John Ward (actor)
John Ward (24 June 1704 – 30 October 1773) was an English actor and theatre manager. The founder of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – a Birmingham-based theatre company who toured throughout the West Midlands and into Wales during the mid to late eighteenth century – he was the first of the Kemble family theatrical dynasty, whose most notable member was his granddaughter Sarah Siddons. Ward was the first recorded performer of a Shakespearian play in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is also notable as the author of the two earliest surviving prompt books of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...'', which reveal how the play was performed in eighteenth century England and also throw light on earlier practice. References Bibliography * * ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Moor Street Theatre
The Moor Street Theatre was the first regular theatre – as distinct from earlier booths and converted barns for strolling players – to be established in Birmingham, England. Located in a back yard between Moor Street and Park Street north of the Bull Ring, it opened in 1740 with a performance of "Oratorio with Vocal and Instrumental Musick". Although the theatre was not purpose-built for dramatic performances, surviving records show that it had boxes, a pit, a balcony and two galleries, together with significant backstage machinery, suggesting that it was a substantial structure. Plays were performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings between July and October. During cold weather the theatre was heated by burning fires for two days before a performance. Like all early Birmingham theatres the Moor Street Theatre was not licensed for dramatic performance, so technically charged for the performance of music during the interval - the play itself being given free of charge. T ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




George Hallam
George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George, son of Andrew I of Hungary Places South Africa * George, South Africa, a city ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa, a city * George, Missouri, a ghost town * George, Washington, a city * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Computing * George (algebraic compiler) also known as 'Laning and Zierler system', an algebraic compiler by Laning and Zierler in 1952 * GEORGE (computer), early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory in 1957 * GEORGE (operating system), a range of operating systems (George 1–4) for the ICT 1900 range of computers in the 1960s * GEORGE (programming language), an autocode system invented by Charles Leonard ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

William Hutton (historian)
William Hutton (30 September 1723 – 20 September 1815) was an English poet and historian. Originally from Derby, he moved to Birmingham and became the first significant historian of the city, publishing his ''History of Birmingham'' in 1781. Biography A Unitarianism, Unitarian Nonconformist (Protestantism), nonconformist born in Derby, William Hutton went to school when five years old. Aged seven years he was employed in a Derby Derby Industrial Museum, Silk Mill on a seven-year apprenticeship. In 1737 he took a second apprenticeship as a stocking maker in Nottingham under his uncle. In 1746, after his uncle had died, he taught himself bookbinding, and three years later opened a shop in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. This was not successful and he moved to Birmingham in 1750 and opened a small bookshop. Hutton married Sarah Cock from Aston-on-Trent in 1755 and they had three sons and a daughter, Catherine Hutton (1756–1846), who became a writer. In 1756, Hutton opened a pape ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Theatre Royal, Birmingham
The Theatre Royal, until 1807 the New Street Theatre, or, colloquially, New Theatre, was a 2,000-seat theatre located on New Street in Birmingham, England. It was erected in 1774 and demolished in 1956. The theatre was damaged by fire in 1792 (as a result of arson) and again in 1820, after which it was rebuilt. In 1897, W. S. Gilbert's '' The Fortune Hunter'' premiered at the theatre. The theatre was rebuilt again in 1902, designed by Ernest Runtz, reopening in 1904 with 2200 seats. This building lasted until 1956 when it was closed and demolished. The Woolworth Building was then constructed on the site, seen today as the location of a branch of Boots and Bella Italia. Two large coade stone medallions, from the front of the theatre, depicting David Garrick (on the viewer's left) and William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English langua ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Strolling Players
Strolling players were travelling theatre groups in England during the Tudor and subsequent periods. They toured the country delivering theatrical performances. They performed in barns and in the courtyards of inns. One of the most popular plays performed by these strolling players was Robin Hood. The English government of the period was concerned that plays such as Robin Hood would promote rebellious acts. The emergence of the Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ... also increased fear that the strolling players would be responsible for spreading disease. The strolling players were subsequently banned in 1572. The only actors allowed to perform around the country were those who were employed by noblemen. References Acting Tudor England Touring theatre ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Booth Drama
Booth may refer to: People * Booth (surname) * Booth (given name) Fictional characters * August Wayne Booth, from the television series ''Once Upon A Time'' *Cliff Booth, a character in the 2019 film ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'', played by Brad Pitt * Frank Booth (''Blue Velvet''), villain of the 1986 film, played by Dennis Hopper *Missy Booth, a character on the television series ''Ackley Bridge'', played by Poppy Lee Friar *Seeley Booth, a character on the television series ''Bones'', played by David Boreanaz Places Antarctica * Mount Booth * Booth Spur * Booth Island Canada * Booth Island (Nunavut) England * Booth, East Riding of Yorkshire, a small village * Booth Park, a cricket ground in Toft, Cheshire United States * Booth, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Booth, Missouri, a ghost town * Booth, Texas, an unincorporated community * Booth Farm, Pennsylvania, on the National Register of Historic Places * Booth Homestead, Ohio, on the National Register of His ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth () is an inner-city area of Birmingham in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick. In 2021 the ward had a population of 11,820. History The name ''Handsworth'' originates from its Anglo-Saxons, Saxon owner Hondes and the Old English language, Old English word ''weorthing'', meaning farm or estate. It was recorded in the Domesday Book, Domesday Survey of 1086, as a holding of William Fitz-Ansculf, the Lord of Dudley, although at that time it would only have been a very small village surrounded by farmland and extensive woodland. One of the oldest buildings in Handsworth is the Old Town Hall, Handsworth, Old Town Hall which dates from 1460. Historically in the county of Staffordshire, it remained a small village from the 13th century to the 18th century. Accommodation was built for factory workers, the village quickly grew, and in ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Deritend
Deritend is a historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth. History Deritend was a crossing point of the River Rea before Birmingham was of any significance. When Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter for a market around 1156 the area to the west of the crossing, Digbeth and beyond, grew into what is now Birmingham. Deritend (in the past called Der-yat-end, possibly Deer Gate End) was across the river towards Warwick in the parish of Aston. Deritend is first mentioned in 1276 when it is reported that an area on the road in the town of Birmingham encroached into an area of land in the parish of Aston. The first mention of Deritend by name is by Sir John de Birmyneham in 1381, who refers to it as 'Duryzatehende'. A further variation occurs in 1430, in a legal record, written in Latin, where it appears as "Durghzatende iuxta Brymyngeham". The letter ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]