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People's Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne
The People's Theatre is an amateur theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Originally located in the city centre, the People's Theatre moved to its current site, adjacent to the Coast Road in Heaton, in 1962. It shows approximately 13 productions a year including a full-scale family pantomime. History The People's Theatre originated within the Newcastle branch of the former British Socialist Party. At that time (1911) money was tight and it was suggested that "The Drama" may be a source. A Double-Bill of "Pot Luck" and "The Bishop's Candlesticks," each having impeccably socialist credentials, was produced and raised nearly 15 shillings (75p) for the funds. It was decided that putting on plays could be a good way of raising money their political activities, and so they went ahead. It was decided that they would affiliate to the Clarion Movement. One of the theatre's key co-founders was Colin Veitch (1881–1938), captain of Newcastle United in their Edwardian heyday. Play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaton, Newcastle
Heaton is a district and suburb in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, east of the city centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Walkergate to the east, Jesmond to the north west, Byker to the south, and Sandyford to the west. The name ''Heaton'' means ''high town'', referring to the area "being situated on hills above the Ouseburn, a tributary of the River Tyne." The area is divided into South Heaton, and High Heaton, representing the north, respectively. For city council elections, the area is split between three wards: Heaton, Manor Park and Ouseburn. History In the 12th century Heaton became part of the Barony of Ellingham granted by Henry I to Nicholas de Grenville. King John stayed in the castle at Heaton (the remains of which can still be seen in Heaton Park) on a number of occasions. In the 17th century the Heaton estate was purchased by Henry Babington who was knighted at Heaton Hall by James I on 1 May 1617. By the 18th century, Heaton was a coal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man And Superman
''Man and Superman'' is a four-act drama written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to a call for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. ''Man and Superman'' opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 21 May 1905 as a four-act play produced by the Stage Society, and then by John Eugene Vedrenne and Harley Granville-Barker on 23 May, without Act III ("Don Juan in Hell"). A part of the third act, ''Don Juan in Hell'' (Act 3, Scene 2), was performed when the drama was staged on 4 June 1907 at the Royal Court. The play was not performed in its entirety until 1915, when the Travelling Repertory Company played it at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Summary Mr. Whitefield has recently died, and his will indicates that his daughter Ann should be left in the care of two men, Roebuck Ramsden and John Tanner. Ramsden, a venerable old man, distrusts John Tanner, an eloquent youth with revolutionary ideas, whom Shaw's stage directions describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cock-a-Doodle Dandy
''Cock-a-Doodle Dandy'' is a 1949 in literature#New drama, 1949 play by Irish dramatist Seán O'Casey. Regarded by O'Casey as his best play, this is a darkly comic fantasy in which a magic cockerel appears in the parish of Nyadnanave and forces the characters to make choices about the way they live their lives. It is a parable of mid-century Irish rural life, symbolising the struggle between repression and liberty. Initially it was regarded as anti-Catholic and was banned from professional public performance in the UK by the Lord Chamberlain. It was also suppressed in Ireland and the USA. In performance The World premiere of the play took place at the The People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1949. This performance was reviewed in the ''Irish Times'' newspaper on 14 December 1949. Under the headline "A Play to Arouse both Anger and Pity", it was described as "a performance of infinitely better quality than I had expected to lie in the ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. Early life O'Casey was born at 85 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin, as John Casey, the son of Michael Casey, a mercantile clerk (who worked for the Irish Church Missions), and Susan Archer. His parents were Protestants and he was a member of the Church of Ireland, baptised on 28 July 1880 in St. Mary's parish, confirmed at St John the Baptist Church in Clontarf, and an active member of St. Barnabas' Church on Sheriff Street until his mid-20s, when he drifted away from the church. There is a church called 'Saint Burnupus' in his play '' Red Roses For Me''. O'Casey's father died when Seán was just six years of age, leaving a family of thirteen. The family lived a peripatetic life thereafter, moving from house to house around north Dublin. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farfetched Fables
''Farfetched Fables'' (1948) is a collection of six short plays by George Bernard Shaw in which he outlines several of his most idiosyncratic personal ideas. The fables are preceded by a long preface. The ideas in the plays and the preface have been called the "violent unabashed prejudices of an eccentric".Archibald Henderson, ''George Bernard Shaw: Man of the Century'', Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, 1956, p.576. Creation Shaw intended to produce a series of plays summing up his own most unfashionable and unpopular ideas. The result is summed up by Archibald Henderson as a hodge-podge of utopian, puritanical and authoritarian concepts: Plot The plays take the form of five dialogues and one monologue in which the various topics are discussed. In the first fable, set shortly after World War II, a Jewish chemist decides that the atomic bomb is too clumsy a weapon, and invents a form of poison gas that is lighter than air. In the second fable the British government refuses t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil McGivern
Cecil McGivern CBE (22 May 1907, in Newcastle, England – 30 January 1963, in Buckinghamshire, England) was a British broadcasting executive, who initially worked for BBC Radio before transferring to BBC Television in the late 1940s. From 1950 to 1957 he served as the Controller of BBC Television Service, succeeding Norman Collins. Early life and career The son of Irish immigrants, McGivern was educated at St Cuthbert's Grammar School and later attended Durham University. His initial ambition was to be an actor (he played the central role in the première of the thriller ''Land's End'' at the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1935), but he quickly realised that he lacked the necessary talent and so pursued a career as a teacher instead. He did, however, continue working in the theatre as a producer of amateur productions. Career McGivern joined the BBC in 1936, working as a producer of drama and documentary programmes in his native Newcastle and also in Manchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Trojan Women
''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos and the subsequent slaughter and subjugation of its populace by the Athenians earlier that year ''(see History of Milos)''. 415 BC was also the year of the scandalous desecration of the '' hermai'' and the launch of the Athenians' second expedition to Sicily, events which may also have influenced the author. ''The Trojan Women'' was the third tragedy of a trilogy dealing with the Trojan War. The first tragedy, ''Alexandros'', was about the recognition of the Trojan prince Paris who had been abandoned in infancy by his parents and rediscovered in adulthood. The second tragedy, ''Palamedes'', dealt with Greek mistreatment of their f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Journey
''English Journey'' is an account by J. B. Priestley of his travels in England which was published in 1934. Commissioned by publisher Victor Gollancz to write a study of contemporary England, Priestley recounts his travels around England in 1933. He shares his observations on the social problems he witnesses, and appeals for democratic socialist change. ''English Journey'' was an influential work, inspiring George Orwell's ''The Road to Wigan Pier'', and "has even been credited with winning the 1945 election for the Labour Party". In the work, Priestley also expresses a prejudice towards Irish immigrants in England: "A great many speeches have been made and books written on the subject of what England has done to Ireland... I should be interested to hear a speech and read a book or two on the subject of what Ireland has done to England... if we do have an Irish Republic as our neighbour, and it is found possible to return her exiled citizens, what a grand clearance there will be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her hands ruled out a musical career. She began her professional acting career with the company of the actor-manager Ben Greet, with whom she toured the US from 1904 to 1908. In Britain she played in old and new plays on tour and in the West End theatre, West End, often appearing with her husband, the actor and director Lewis Casson. She joined the the Old Vic, Old Vic company during the First World War, and in the early 1920s George Bernard Shaw, Bernard Shaw, impressed by seeing her in a tragedy, wrote ''Saint Joan (play), Saint Joan'' with her in mind. She starred in it with great success. She became known as Britain's leading tragedienne, but also appeared frequently in comedy. During the Second World War, Thorndike and her husband toured ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Immortal Hour
''The Immortal Hour'' is an opera by English composer Rutland Boughton. Boughton adapted his own libretto from the play of the same name by Fiona MacLeod, a pseudonym of writer William Sharp. ''The Immortal Hour'' is a fairy tale or fairy opera, with a mood and theme similar to Dvořák's ''Rusalka'' and Mozart's ''The Magic Flute''. Magic and nature spirits play important roles in the storyline. The fairy people are not mischievous, childlike sprites, but are proud and powerful: immortal demigods who are feared by mortals and who can (and do) interfere with the lives of men and women. Alternatively, the progression of Etain into the mortal realm and her pursuit and redemption by Midir have similarities with the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this work, Boughton combined Wagnerian approaches to musical themes and symbolism with a folk-like modal approach to the music itself, reflective of the Celtic origins of the tale, which is based on the Irish story ''Tochmarc Éta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton (23 January 187825 January 1960) was an English composer who became well known in the early 20th century as a composer of opera and choral music. He was also an influential communist activist within the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). His oeuvre includes three symphonies, several concertos, part-songs, songs, chamber music and opera (which he called "music drama" after Wagner). His best known work was the opera ''The Immortal Hour''. His ''Bethlehem'' (1915), based on the Coventry Nativity Play and notable for its choral arrangements of traditional Christmas carols, also became very popular with choral societies worldwide. Among his many works, the prolific Boughton composed a complete series of five operas of Arthurian mythos, written over a period of thirty-five years: ''The Birth of Arthur'' (1909), ''The Round Table'' (1915–16), ''The Lily Maid'' (1933–34), ''Galahad'' (1943–44) and ''Avalon'' (1944–45). Other operas by Boughton include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
