Creation Theatre Company is a producing theatre based in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. Founded in 1996 by David Parrish, the company became a charity in 2007 and produces site-specific adaptations of classic stories and Shakespeare.

Management

Founding artistic director David Parrish announced his departure in 2010, to take on a producing role at the

National Theatre of Norway The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

. He was succeeded by James Erskine, who had previously worked for

The Gate Theatre ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

and

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

. Erskine left the company in 2012 and Lucy Askew was the CEO and artistic producer until she left in April 2024. Helen Eastman is now artistic director and CEO of Creation Theatre.

Cast and creative team

Creation does not have a fixed company of actors or artistic staff, instead using a freelance team for each project. Past directors include

Laurie Sansom Laurie Sansom (born 1972) is a British theatre director. He is currently the Artistic Director of Halifax-based theatre company Northern Broadsides. Early life and education Sansom grew up in East Peckham, near Tonbridge, Kent. He attended ...

Joanna Read Joanna Read (born 8 March 1968) is a British theatre director and librettist. In 2010, she became the first ever female Principal of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Early life Read was born on 8 March 1968 in Stroud. She at ...

, Richard Beecham, Gareth Machin, Tim Carroll,

Natalie Abrahami Natalie Abrahami is a British theatre, film and opera director. From 2007–12 she was joint Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre with Carrie Cracknell.Natalie was Associate Director and Genesis Fellow at the Young Vic in London 2013-16 and ...

, Jonathan Holloway, Charlotte Conquest and Gari Jones.

Performance venues

Creation has never had a theatre building and produces shows in unusual spaces across the city of Oxford and beyond. The first productions, from 1996 to 2002 were performed open air in the grounds of Magdalen College School. For Christmas performances between 2004 and 2011 the company erected a

Spiegeltent A spiegeltent (Dutch language, Dutch for "mirror tent", from ''wikt:spiegel#Dutch, spiegel''+''wikt:tent#Dutch, tent'') is a large travelling tent, constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, intended as an ent ...

in the car park of

BMW Group Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The ...

Plant with shows such as ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' and ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

.'' Following its renovation in 2005, Creation has performed seven shows at

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

. In 2011, Creation was the first theatre company to perform at Blackwell's Bookshop to perform ''Doctor Faustus'', and has gone on to perform ''Hamlet'' and ''The Odyssey'', a co-production with

The Factory Theatre Company The Factory Theatre Company is a theatre company based in the United Kingdom. History The Factory's first production, William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', was first performed at various pop-up locations across London, the first of these being a stud ...

, and ''Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde''. Since Christmas 2011 Creation has performed at

The North Wall Arts Centre The North Wall Arts Centre (often just referred to as the North Wall) is a performing arts centre in Oxford, owned by St Edward's School and shared with the city. It houses a 200-seat theatre, plus a rehearsal space, dance studio and a visual ...

with ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'', ''Aladdin and the Magical Lamp'', ''

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a portal fantasy novel written by British author C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956 ...

'' and ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

''. Most recently, Creation has staged festive productions of ''Alice'' and ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' at The Mill Arts Centre, George Orwell's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' at the Oxford Mathematical Institute and a production of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' with scenes set across the Oxford City Centre. In 2019 Creation put on ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' at the

London Library The London Library is an Subscription library, independent lending library in London, established in 1841. Membership is open to all, on payment of an annual subscription, with life and corporate memberships also available. As of December 2023 ...

. In 2020 Creation performed live performances online via

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

including, ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', ''The Time Machine , A Virtual Reality'' (an adaptation of ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...

'') and ''Alice , A Virtual Theme Park'' (an adaptation of ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

''). Pascale Aebischer and Rachael Nicholas,

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, released "The Digital Theatre Transformation Report - A Case study and a Digital Toolkit" in October 2020. The case study is based on Creation's digital production, ''The Tempest Live, Interactive and In Your Living Room'', one of the first productions made for the digital stage utilising Zoom at the beginning of April 2020. The report is aimed at performers and companies embarking on transforming their physical theatre practice into a digital mode of home working for both office staff and creative practitioners.

List of Creation productions

Critical reception

References

{{authority control 1996 establishments in England Organizations established in 1996 Organisations based in Oxford Theatre companies in England Theatre in Oxford