The Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on place ...

and F. G. M. Chancellor. It is situated in

Beaumont Street Beaumont Street is a street in the centre of Oxford, England. The street was laid out from 1828 to 1837 with elegant terraced houses in the Regency architecture, Regency style. Before that, it was the location of Beaumont Palace, now noted by ...

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 ...

, opposite the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

History

The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road,

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...

, in 1923 by J. B. Fagan. The early history of the theatre is documented by the theatre director, Norman Marshall in his 1947 book, ''The Other Theatre''. Don Chapman also provided a comprehensive study of the theatre in the 2008 book, ''Oxford Playhouse: High and Low Drama in a University City''. The exterior design of the theatre building on the south side of Beaumont Street was by Sir

, with the interior design by

F.G.M. Chancellor Francis Graham Moon Chancellor (30 September 1869 – 20 September 1940), styled professionally as F. G. M. Chancellor, was a Tasmanian''Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911'', The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surr ...

; the building was completed in 1938. It is faced with stone, in keeping with the early 19th century

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

buildings in the street. Actors who have appeared on the stage at the Playhouse include

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003– ...

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

Ian McDiarmid Ian McDiarmid ( ; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen. Making his stage debut in ''Hamlet'' in 1972, McDiarmid joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, and has since starred in a number of Shakespeare's ...

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

, and

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

Susannah York Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...

gave her final stage performance there in August 2010, in

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for '' The Dresser'' (for ...

's ''Quartet''. The journalist and writer

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...

worked as a stagehand at the Playhouse during his time as an undergraduate at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. The Oxford Playhouse was the base from which

Prospect Theatre Company The Prospect Theatre Company was an English company founded, as Prospect Productions, in 1961. Based at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge from 1964 until 1969, the company, with Toby Robertson as artistic director and Richard Cottrell as associate dir ...

was created by manager Elizabeth Sweeting and resident stage manager

Iain Mackintosh Iain Mackintosh (born 1937) is a British practitioner of theatre combining four interwoven careers as theatre producer, theatre space designer, curator of theatre painting and architecture exhibitions, and author and lecturer on both modern and ei ...

in 1961. Between 1963 and 1976, the Prospect Theatre Company toured 75 productions to 125 theatres in 21 countries. The Greek theatre director

Minos Volanakis Minos Volanakis (; 1925 or 1926, Athens – 15 November 1999, Athens) was a Greek theatre director and translator.See his obituary in ''The New York Times'', November 20, 1999. Work He studied with Karolos Koun, for whom he translated American p ...

was an associate director at the Playhouse; his productions included

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

's ''

The Maids ''The Maids'' ( ) is a 1947 play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed. The play has been revived in Fr ...

'' (1963–4) and ''

The Balcony ''The Balcony'' () is a Play (theatre), play by the French people, French dramatist Jean Genet. It is set in an unnamed city that is experiencing a revolutionary uprising in the streets; most of the action takes place in an upmarket brothel that ...

'' (1967), and

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; ; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His wo ...

's ''

Madwoman of Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (, ) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and ...

''.

Present

A charitable trust runs the Playhouse as a theatre for the local community, through a professional management and direction team. The freehold of the building is owned by St John's College. The theatre was closed for some years for lack of funding, but is now refurbished with a 663-seat capacity in the main auditorium.

Burton Taylor Studio

Oxford Playhouse has close relations with the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and is the home stage of the

Oxford University Dramatic Society The Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England. Not all student productions at Oxford University a ...

. On behalf of the university the Playhouse also manages the nearby Burton Taylor Studio, named in honour of

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

. "The BT" is a 50-seat

studio theatre A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...

Gloucester Street Gloucester Street is a major urban street in central Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for approximately from a junction with Rolleston Avenue at its western end, directly opposite Christ's College, to the suburbs of ...

, close to the Oxford Playhouse. It originated in 1966, when Richard Burton donated money towards the creation of a rehearsal space, also occasionally used for performance, named the Burton Rooms. A couple of decades later, students from the

(OUDS) established the current tradition of the venue as a home for regular student productions. The Burton Taylor Studio programmes a mix of student and professional productions throughout the year.

References

Sources

* Anonymous. 1999
Obituary
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 20 November 1999. * * Marshall, Norman. 1947. ''The Other Theatre''. London: John Lehmann. * Parkinson, David. 2003. ''Oxford at the Movies''. P.Ink Books.

External links

Oxford Playhouse website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Playhouse 1923 establishments in England Theatres completed in 1938