Theatre Royal Stratford East
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham, which opened in 1884. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company. The theatre was designed by architect James George Buckle[1], who was commissioned to design the theatre by the Actor/Manager Charles Dillon in 1884. It opened on December 17, 1884 with a performance of Richelieu by Bulwer-Lytton. The theatre was refurbished in 1902 by Frank Matcham. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in June 1972[2]. In 2001, following a successful National Lottery bid, it completed the redevelopment of all of its front of house and backstage areas as part of a project to create the Stratford Cultural Quarter.
In 2005 the Theatre Royal Stratford East made history by having the first British Black musical to transfer to London's West End, where it played at the Apollo Theatre. Recently the theatre produced a musical version of the cult Jamaican film The Harder They Come. This production was written by the film director Perry Henzel and was one of the most successful productions in the theatre's history.
Artistic directors
Joan Littlewood (1953-1979)
The Theatre Royal became famous under the management of Gerry Raffles (1928-1975), who worked with director Joan Littlewood on such productions as A Taste of Honey and Oh! What a Lovely War. In 1975, her collaborator and partner, Gerry Raffles died of diabetes, and in 1979, a devastated Joan Littlewood moved to France, never to direct again.
Philip Hedley (1979-2004)
Philip Hedley had worked as an assistant to Joan Littlewood for some years, but took over the artistic directorship of the theatre from Clare Venables in 1979. He ran the theatre in the hope of rekindling the golden era it had experienced with Joan Littlewood in her prime. After a difficult first couple of years, he found his feet as Artistic Director and began to put his own personal stamp on the style in which it was run. Like Joan Littlewood, Philip Hedley was very keen to see local people using the theatre on a regular basis. To that end he not only provided traditional entertainment in style of old music hall variety shows on Sunday evenings for the traditional 'eastenders' (the ones before the soap of the same name) but also looked to engage with new Asian and Black audiences, as the local demographic changed. The theatre continued Littlewood's agenda to portray and express the experience of local people in East London.
In 1999, he began the Musical Theatre Initiatives scheme to encourage new writing in musical theatre. In 2004, after 25 years as artistic director, he retired.
Kerry Michael (2004-continues)
Kerry Michael joined Stratford East in 1997, as an associate director. He became director in September 2004. His manifesto is to bring London's new communities to the stage, and portray their experiences as second and third generation emigrants.[3]
References
Bibliography
- Coren, Michael - Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East - Quartet, 1984 ISBN 0-7043-2474-1
External link
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