Brian Francis Way (September 12, 1923February 23, 2006), was a British

theatre practitioner A theatre practitioner is someone who creates theatrical performances and/or produces a theoretical discourse that informs their practical work. A theatre practitioner may be a director, dramatist, actor, designer or a combination of these tradi ...

who established

Theatre Centre Theatre Centre is a UK-based theatre company touring new plays for young audiences. It was Founded in 1953 by Brian Way and Margaret Faulkes. History Brian Way and Margaret Faulkes founded Theatre Centre in 1953. When they produced a shorten ...

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in 1953. The company originated the modern concept of

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

for children in an educational context. Brian Way was born in

Sussex, England Sussex ( /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom and, later, a county. It includes the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and We ...

, in 1923. He was the prime mover in a group of lecturers and teachers, who were in 1946 considering the relationship between theatre and teaching. People such as Peter Slade, Warren Jenkins and Brian English had a considerable influence on his thinking and he edited Slade's book ''Child Drama''. They worked together at

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

, where he met his first wife, Kathleen. After his marriage to her in 1946, they came to London and he continued to make a rather tenuous living from lecturing and teaching until the beginning of the fifties, when he provided a centre for unemployed actors, on occasional days, at a hall in

Loudoun Road Loudoun Road is a street in the St John's Wood area of London. Most of its route is in the City of Westminster, but it crosses into the London Borough of Camden at its northern end in South Hampstead. It runs roughly parallel to Finchley Road to ...

, St John's Wood. There he produced plays in the round including ''

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( ''Philoktētēs''; , ), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnesia), Meliboea in Thessaly, and Demonassa or Methone (Greek myth), Methone. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer ...

'' and ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', which he wrote with Warren Jenkins and an abbreviated version of '' The Man Born to Be King'' by

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

. Sayers herself saw this production and was so impressed she donated £200 to him so that he could establish Theatre Centre as a company, whose board of management she joined. Brian, who had co-founded the West Country Children's Theatre Company after the war, again turned his attention to educational children's theatre. He believed that plays in this context ought to be performed in the round, for specific age groups limited in number, with professional actors capable of interacting with the children. He believed the plays should be entertaining, as well as informative. That philosophy has remained the purpose of Theatre Centre ever since. It was not, however, until 1965 that theatre in education became an accepted part of the educational system and of professional theatre. Brian stated his beliefs in two seminal books, ''Development Through Drama'' and ''Audience Participation'', which have been translated into many languages. He retired from Theatre Centre in 1977 and he has to his credit more than 50 plays. He became a visiting professor in a number of distinguished universities, moving permanently to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1983 and living in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

with his second wife Perri. He is survived by her, by Kathleen and by his three children David, Peter and Amanda. He was a seminal figure in the development of educational theatre. He died in Toronto in 2006. The

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

established The Children's Award to celebrate the accomplishments and raise the profile of theatre for young people and most especially playwrights who work in this field. Since 2006

has administered this Award, which has been renamed 'The Brian Way Award' in honour and recognition of this pioneering man of extraordinary vision.

External links

Theatre CentreThe Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Way, Brian 1923 births 2006 deaths Children's theatre