Playhouse celebrates anniversary

12:07pm Saturday 16th August 2008

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Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, Burton and Taylor - these are just a few famous names on the roll call of actors who have trodden the boards at the Oxford Playhouse.

Now their performances are to be remembered in a week of gala celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Beaumont Street theatre.

The Playhouse, the last regional theatre to be built before the Second World War, opened its doors on October 20, 1938, with a performance of And So To Bed by JB Fagan.

To mark the anniversary - as well as the departure of Tish Francis, who has run the theatre for the past 18 years - a week-long programme of events is being organised.

Michelle Dickson, appointed director of the Playhouse in April after six years as deputy, said: "There will be two gala performances on October 25 and October 26, which will look at the history of the Playhouse.

"Libby Purves will host Many Happy Returns, the first event, in which actors will reminisce about past performances, and on Sunday Gyles Brandreth will host Seventy - Not Out!, a lighter line-up of music and song.

"On October 19, we will stage the world premiere of a new opera, Burial at Thebes, based on Antigone, with words by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.

"On October 23, Richard Dawkins will give his final lecture as Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science.

"Then, on October 24, Victor Spinetti will look back on his life, and that will include his Oxford memories. It's a very exciting programme and, as well as looking back at the past, we want to look forward to the future and launch a £1m fundraising campaign.

"There hasn't been any work on the fabric of the building since a Lottery refurbishment in 1996 and we would also like to improve the technical equipment backstage, replace the toilets, and make the actors' dressing rooms more comfortable."

Ms Dickson said the theatre's priority was to invest more in developing the work of its learning team.

At present, two staff work with 15,000 people a year, and additional members of staff could boost that figure.

She added that the theatre also wanted to increase its 'Playhouse Plays Out' initiative, which aims to take productions out of the theatre to places one would not normally expect to see plays.

From tomorrow until Friday, the Playhouse is hosting London's Globe Theatre Company, which will perform Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale in the quad at the Bodleian Library, off Broad Street.

Mr Dickson added: "Every time an actor passes through these doors, afterwards they talk so passionately about their experiences here and talk fondly about how audiences have responded to them.

"Maggie Smith made her first public performances on stage and Dame Judi Dench was a member of the repertory company."

Tickets for the gala events are now on sale at the Playhouse box office on 01865 305305.