The People's Theatre is an amateur theatre in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, 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
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
.
History
![Leazes Park Road and Percy Street, Newcastle upon Tyne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Leazes_Park_Road_and_Percy_Street%2C_Newcastle_upon_Tyne.jpg)
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
Colin Campbell McKechnie Veitch (22 May 1881 – 26 August 1938) was an English football player in the early 20th century for Newcastle United and manager of Bradford City.
Playing career
Newcastle United
Veitch was born in the Heaton area ...
(1881–1938), captain of
Newcastle United in their Edwardian heyday.
Plays were originally staged under the name of the Clarion Dramatic Society, one of many so-called 'Clarion' societies then existing within the BSP (such as the Clarion Cycling Club and the Clarion Vocal Union). Its first premises were in the BSP's rooms on the first floor of a building at the corner of Leazes Terrace and Percy Street in Newcastle city centre. Their first performance was of ''The Bishop's Candlesticks'' (a drama based on Victor Hugo's ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'') in July 1911. But as Norman Veitch (one of the co-founders and Colin Veitch's brother) later remarked: 'If we're going to murder plays, let's murder the best'. In September they performed
Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's ''
The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet
''The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet: A Sermon in Crude Melodrama'' is a one-act play by George Bernard Shaw, first produced in 1909. Shaw describes the play as a religious tract in dramatic form.Violet M. Broad & C. Lewis Broad ''Dictionary to th ...
'', although it had been banned by the
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...
.
Thus began the People's Theatre's close association with Shaw, whose plays combined popular appeal with a social message that appealed to the
Fabian political sentiments of the Clarion Society members.
These theatrical productions became so popular that the dramatic society started to cast their net wider in their choice of plays to include
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and genres such as comedy. This led to friction with the BSP, so the Clarion group started to look for new premises. The theatre remained active throughout
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, during which it formally split from the BSP and moved to the Royal Arcade, Pilgrim Street in 1915.
In 1920, Norman Veitch went to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
to meet
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
and the great man subsequently came to Newcastle to see the Clarion production of his play ''
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 o ...
'' in 1921. After this, Shaw offered in future a percentage of royalty terms instead of performance fees - a generous gesture. The theatre had by now changed its name to the People's Theatre and went on to give the first provincial performance of Shaw's ''
Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
''. In 1926, the theatre gave the British premiere of
Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
's ''
The Soldier's Tale
' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was base ...
'' and
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 Gre ...
himself came to conduct his popular ''
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 op ...
''.
In 1929, the People's acquired new premises at Rye Hill in the west end of the city, where they converted an old chapel into a theatre in which they would stay until 1962, staging over 500 productions.
During this period the theatre was visited by a number of well-known figures from the theatrical world, including
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 ...
in 1931. In March 1933,
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator.
His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...
visited the theatre whilst travelling around the country gathering material for his book ''
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 ...
'';
in it, he writes at some length about watching a rehearsal of ''
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 duri ...
''. G.B. Shaw visited for a second time in 1936, upon which occasion he made what was to be his last speech from a stage. He remarked: "This being my last speech in the theatre, I like it to be this one." Both Shaw and Dame Sybil took part in a BBC radio programme about the People's Theatre produced by
Cecil McGivern an ex-People's member, in 1939. In this programme, Shaw opened his remarks with the words 'I ''like'' this People's Theatre.' The theatre remained open and producing plays throughout
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 opposin ...
. It gave the public premiere of one of Shaw's very last works, ''
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 b ...
'', in 1951.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the People's continued to perform drama by playwrights whose work at that time would have otherwise been unperformed in northeast England, or, in some cases, anywhere else. The People's staged the World Premiere of
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.
...
's play ''
Cock-a-Doodle Dandy
''Cock-a-Doodle Dandy'' is a 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 choice ...
'' in 1949. Another premiere was that of
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
's ''
The Ascent of F6
''The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts'', by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second and most successful play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936. It was a major contribution to English poetic drama in ...
''. Auden was in Newcastle at the time, and his friend, the Newcastle poet
Michael Roberts wrote the programme notes. Other such writers included:
John Whiting
John Robert Whiting (15 November 1917 – 16 June 1963) was an English actor, dramatist and critic.
Life and career
Born in Salisbury, he was educated at Taunton School, "the particular hellish life which is the English public school" as he ...
,
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
,
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...
,
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
,
John Arden
John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English playwright who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s".
Career
Born in Barnsley, son of the manager of a glass f ...
,
John Osborne
John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...
,
Ugo Betti
Ugo Betti (4 February 1892 in Camerino – 9 June 1953 in Rome) was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello.
Biography
Betti studied law in Parma at the time when ...
and
Fritz Hochwälder
Fritz Hochwälder (28 May 1911 – 21 October 1986) also known as Fritz Hochwaelder, was an Austrian playwright. Known for his spare prose and strong moralist themes, Hochwälder won several literary awards, including the Grand Austrian State ...
; many of these productions were regional, if not national premieres of works by playwrights not yet as universally recognised or as popular as they would later become.
By 1955 the People's was beginning to outgrow its Rye Hill premises, and theatre chairman Arthur Kay enrolled the help of
Peggy Ashcroft
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years.
Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...
and
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 Briti ...
to launch a building appeal fund. Within five years, this allowed the purchase of the former Lyric Cinema in Heaton and a new arts centre opened there in September 1962 with Shaw's ''Man and Superman''. In the same year, the Young People's Theatre, for children aged 11 to 17 was founded, led by People's Theatre members. In 1967 the theatre produced the British Premiere of
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...
's ''
After the Fall''. In 1969
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...
came to see the famous Kathkali Dancers. The diamond jubilee of the theatre was celebrated in 1971 with a performance of Shaw's ''
The Philanderer''. In 1987 the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
used the theatre as part of their Newcastle season. In 2011 the theatre celebrated its centenary with Shaw's ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
''.
In 2014, plans were announced to refurbish the theatre and to create a study space which could be used at the same time as performances in the main auditorium. The
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
awarded the theatre £100,000, with £1.5m raised by the theatre itself.
The theatre reopened in December 2016 for its annual pantomime.
The People's logo
This has traditionally been a Phoenix, no doubt reflecting the many times when the theatre had risen from near-disaster to a new life. In the 1960s, as part of the fund-raising campaign for a new home, it was decided that the old design, probably dating from the 1920s, needed modernising. Local graphic designer Peter Reed donated the new design, which is still in use - see the picture. When the old and now empty Rye Hill theatre burnt down,
James Garbutt
James Garbutt (12 September 1925 – 6 April 2020) was a British actor who was active on television from the 1960s.
Born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham in 1925, James was an RAF pilot and was trained in the United States and stationed ...
a People's actor and talented artist, salvaged some charred boards from the old stage to create a replica of the new logo to hang in the Greenroom.
In 2017, to go along with a major refurbishment of the Heaton site, a new logo was adopted.
Notable former members
A number of former People's Theatre members have gone on to find success and fame in the professional theatre. These include:
Alan Browning
Alan Brown (23 March 1926 – 7 September 1979), known professionally as Alan Browning, was an English actor. He is best remembered for portraying Alan Howard in the television series ''Coronation Street'', a role he played from 1969 to 1973. H ...
,
James Garbutt
James Garbutt (12 September 1925 – 6 April 2020) was a British actor who was active on television from the 1960s.
Born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham in 1925, James was an RAF pilot and was trained in the United States and stationed ...
, Fred Pearson, Margaret Jackman,
Jack Shepherd,
Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately (born 6 February 1951) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Neville "Nev" Hope in the British comedy drama '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'', Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas '' Inspector Morse'' 1987–2000 an ...
,
Ralph Watson,
Tom Goodman-Hill
Tom Goodman-Hill is an English actor of film, television, theatre and radio.
Early life
Brought up near Newcastle upon Tyne, he qualified as a teacher before turning to acting. During his time in Newcastle, he regularly acted in amateur perform ...
and
Andrea Riseborough. Other former People's members who have gone on to find success in related fields include pop star
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and ...
(singer-songwriter in the
Pet Shop Boys
The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
), comedian
Ross Noble
Ross Markham Noble (born 5 June 1976) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on panel shows such as '' Have I Got News for You' ...
and BBC Radio producer Ian Gardhouse.
People's Theatre Arts Group
For many years, the People's had been closely associated with the Tyneside Music Society and the Tyneside Film Society, both of which hired various venues in Newcastle for their monthly performances. Both societies joined the People's Theatre in the move to its new home. The former cinema's screen and projection facilities were retained and the conversion included a purpose-built art gallery in the theatre bar. So theatre, film, music and art operated together under the People's Theatre Arts Group banner.
The People's Play Award
The theatre also hosts the People's Play Award. It is a biennial playwriting competition co-hosted with
New Writing North
New Writing North, founded in 1996, is an Arts Council England agency based in the North of England for the development of writing.
History
New Writing North was established in 1996 in Newcastle upon Tyne, working with writers across the North Ea ...
in 1992.
Its object is to encourage writing for live theatre from writers living in the north of England. The prize for the bi-annual award was originally £500 (now £2000)
and a production of the winning play by the People's Theatre.
Originally, the 2nd and 3rd placed plays would receive a rehearsed reading at the People's Theatre, however, this practice has now ended.
There have been eleven People's Plays so far and each call for entrants has attracted around 40 contenders.
Previous winners
* 1993: "''The Eyes of Another Race''" by David Farne
* 1995: "''Lord of the North''" by Sidney L. Chalton
* 1997: "''A Rhyme for Orange''" by Arthur Craven
* 1999: "''The Big Marrow''" by Carina Rodney
* 2001: "''Bloodlines''" by Norrene Rees
* 2003: "''Sticky Fingers''" by Tony Glover
* 2005: "''My Mam Was An Ice-cream Blonde''" by Alison Carr
* 2007: "''Lucky Numbers''" by Mike Yeaman
* 2009: "''Pig Stew''" by Fiona Veitch-Smith
* 2011: "''Ersatz''" by Kevan Ogden
* 2013: "''In My Father's House''" by Patrick Robertson
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Young People's TheatrePTAGarchives
{{DEFAULTSORT:People's Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Theatres in Newcastle upon Tyne
British theatre awards