the Playhouse | |
 The theatre entrance onBeaumont Street. | |
 | |
| Address | Beaumont Street |
|---|---|
| Location | Oxford |
| Coordinates | 51°45′17″N1°15′39″W / 51.75472°N 1.26083°W /51.75472; -1.26083 |
| Public transit | Gloucester Green,Oxford railway station |
| Owner | St John's College |
| Operator | The Oxford Playhouse Trust |
| Type | Theatre |
| Capacity | 663 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1938 |
| Architect | Edward Maufe (exterior) F. G. M. Chancellor (interior) |
| Website | |
| www | |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | The Playhouse[1] |
| Designated | 12 January 1954[1] |
| Reference no. | 1185150[1] |
TheOxford Playhouse is a theatre designed byEdward Maufe andF. G. M. Chancellor. It is situated inBeaumont Street,Oxford, opposite theAshmolean Museum.
The Playhouse was founded asThe Red Barn at 12Woodstock Road,North Oxford, in 1923 byJ. B. Fagan.[2] The early history of the theatre is documented by the theatre director,Norman Marshall in his 1947 book,The Other Theatre.[3] Don Chapman also provided a comprehensive study of the theatre in the 2008 book,Oxford Playhouse: High and Low Drama in a University City.[4]
The exterior design of the theatre building on the south side of Beaumont Street was by SirEdward Maufe, with the interior design byF.G.M. Chancellor;[5] the building was completed in 1938.[6] It is faced with stone, in keeping with the early 19th centuryRegency buildings in the street.
Actors who have appeared on the stage at the Playhouse includeRowan Atkinson,Ronnie Barker,Dirk Bogarde,Judi Dench,John Gielgud,Ian McDiarmid,Ian McKellen,Dudley Moore, andMaggie Smith.Susannah York gave her final stage performance there in August 2010, inRonald Harwood'sQuartet. The journalist and writerChristopher Hitchens worked as a stagehand at the Playhouse during his time as an undergraduate atBalliol College, Oxford.[7]
The Oxford Playhouse was the base from whichProspect Theatre Company was created by manager Elizabeth Sweeting and resident stage managerIain Mackintosh in 1961. Between 1963 and 1976, the Prospect Theatre Company toured 75 productions to 125 theatres in 21 countries.[citation needed]
The Greek theatre directorMinos Volanakis was an associate director at the Playhouse; his productions includedJean Genet'sThe Maids (1963–4) andThe Balcony (1967), andJean Giraudoux'sMadwoman of Chaillot.[8]
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 bySt John's College.[9]The theatre was closed for some years for lack of funding, but is now refurbished with a 663-seat capacity in the main auditorium.
Oxford Playhouse has close relations with theUniversity of Oxford and is the home stage of theOxford University Dramatic Society. On behalf of the university the Playhouse also manages the nearby Burton Taylor Studio, named in honour ofRichard Burton andElizabeth Taylor. "The BT" is a 50-seatstudio theatre inGloucester Street, 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 theOxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) established the current tradition of the venue as a home for regular student productions.[10] The Burton Taylor Studio programmes a mix of student and professional productions throughout the year.[10]
