Theatre Workshop is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West End, and some, such as ''

Oh, What a Lovely War! ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical ...

'' and ''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

'', were made into films.

Formation

Joan Littlewood and

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

met and married in 1934, while both were working with the Theatre of Action. They started their own collaboration developing radio plays for the BBC, taking scripts and cast from local workers. However, both MI5 and the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and intelligence in British, Commonwealth, Irish, and other police forces. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usu ...

maintained a watch on the couple because of their support for the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. Littlewood was precluded from working for the BBC as a children's programme presenter and some of MacColl's work was banned from broadcast. In the late 1930s Littlewood and MacColl formed an acting troupe called the Theatre Union. This was dissolved in 1940, but in 1945 many of its former members joined Joan Littlewood's new venture, the Theatre Workshop. In 1948 the company toured Czechoslovakia and Sweden.On tour with Theatre Workshop
Not found 25 Feb. 2022

Theatre Royal, Stratford East

Joan Littlewood (1953–1979)

Touring was not successful for the company, and in 1953 Joan Littlewood took the gamble of taking a lease on a permanent base at the

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The theatre was derelict, no funds were available for renovation, and the actors cleaned and painted the auditorium between rehearsals. To save money the cast and crew slept in the dressing rooms (while Littlewood went back to her home in Blackheath). The theatre opened on 2 February 1953 with ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

''."''History of Theatre Royal Stratford East: 1953–1979''"
'' StratfordEast.com'' (Retrieved: 16 August 2009) MacColl had not supported the move to London, and left the company to concentrate on

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. With Littlewood, as director,

Gerry Raffles Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...

(1928–1975) as manager and John Bury as designer, the Theatre Workshop continued to present a mixed programme of classics and modern plays with contemporary themes. The cast and crew (again excluding Littlewood, who was then living with Raffles) lived and worked as a commune, sharing the many tasks associated with running and maintaining a theatre, and with a duty roster for "chef of the week". In April 1953, a request for funds was met with

''The Finance Committee at their last meeting was unable to recommend any grant for the purposes you have in mind. However, the Committee indicated that they would be prepared to assist, where possible in the matter of publicity, providing this could be done without cost to the Committee''

Success came following an invitation from Claude Planson, the director of the Paris International Festival of Theatre, to represent England at the festival in 1955. The company travelled to Paris with costumes in their suitcases and scenery under their arms. In May 1955 Theatre Workshop presented acclaimed productions of '' Volpone'' and ''

Arden of Faversham ''Arden of Faversham'' (original spelling: ''Arden of Feversham'') is an Elizabethan play, entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on 3 April 1592, and printed later that same year by Edward White. It depicts the real-life murder ...

'' at the Théâtre Hébertot, though the company had to beg their fares home. The Arts Council and critics became aware of the company, and they returned to Paris with six more productions. In 1963 they won the Award of the Grande Prix du Festival for ''

''. In 1955 Littlewood directed, and took the leading role in, the London premiere of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's ''

Mother Courage and Her Children ''Mother Courage and Her Children'' (german: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder, links=no) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. Four theatrical ...

''. Finances continued to be tight, but the company was kept afloat with transfers of many successful plays to the West End stage and later, film productions. This workload put a severe strain on resources, as these transfers meant that experienced cast members were tied up for long periods and had to be replaced in the

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

. Until 1968, the Theatres Act 1843 required scripts to be submitted for approval by the

Lord Chamberlain's Office The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the ...

. This caused conflicts because of the

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

techniques used by Littlewood to develop plays for performance. She was twice prosecuted and fined for allowing the company to improvise in performance. The ''Fun Palace'' was an ambitious multi-arts project conceived by Littlewood and the company in conjunction with the architect

Cedric Price Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture. The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...

. The project was never built, but the concept may have influenced later projects such the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in Paris. Another project conceived in the 1960s was the formation of an acting school associated with Theatre Workshop to inspire a new generation of actors with the ideas and techniques of Littlewood. Although Littlewood herself strongly disapproved, believing that acting was an unteachable skill, the

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked N ...

became successful. It is now based in its own premises in

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

. In 2000 the school became part of the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

. By the end of the 1960s both the company and the theatre were under threat. The Theatre Workshop presented revivals of its own productions and a campaign was begun to save the theatre from redevelopment as part of a new shopping centre planned to transform the centre of Stratford. Audiences mounted a campaign to save the theatre and for many years it remained open in the centre of a building site. In 1975 Gerry Raffles died of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and in 1979 Littlewood moved to France, and ceased to direct. Many well-regarded television and stage actors began their professional careers at Theatre Workshop under Littlewood's tutelage. They included Yootha Joyce, Glynn Edwards, Harry H. Corbett,

George A. Cooper George Alphonsus Cooper (7 March 1925 – 16 November 2018) was an English actor and voice artist. He died in November 2018 at the age of 93. Early life Cooper was born in Leeds, the son of William and Eleanor (née Dobson) Cooper. His father ...

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as lea ...

, Howard Goorney, Brian Murphy, Murray Melvin, Nigel Hawthorne and

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.

. The last three were cast by the director

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

to appear in the film version of '' The Boy Friend'' (1971) with

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

Philip Hedley (1979–2004)

Philip Hedley had worked as an assistant to Joan Littlewood for some years, and took over the artistic directorship on her departure from the theatre. He continued her educational work, and engaged with new Asian and Black audiences as the local demographic changed. The theatre continued Littlewood's agenda of portraying and expressing the experience of local people in East London. In 1999 Hedley 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 MBE (2004–2017)

Kerry Michael is a second-generation Greek Cypriot who was born and brought up in North London. He 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. Michael has upheld the theatre’s commitment to develop new work and to provide a platform for those voices underrepresented in the ever-changing communities of East London. In 2007 the theatre was nominated for an Olivier Award for "presenting a powerful season of provocative work that reaches new audiences". Its hip-hop dance production of Boy Blue’s Pied Piper won an Oliver in the same year. In the following year Kerry’s production of ''Cinderella'' was also nominated for an Olivier. Michael has numerous directing credits. Highlights include new plays by Cosh Omar, ''The Battle of Green Lanes'' and ''The Great Extension''; ''Jamaica House'' by Paul Sirett, which had a site-specific performance on the top floor of a tower block in Stepney; new musicals such as ''Make Some Noise'' and ''One Dance Will Do''; Ray Davies’s ''Come Dancing'', winner of the ''What’s On Stage'' Best Musical; and John Adam's song play ''I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky''. Michael is Chair of Stratford Cultural Forum, a board member of Stratford Renaissance Partnership, a trustee of Discover, which provides creative, play and learning opportunities for children and their carers in Stratford, and a member of UK Equity’s International Committee for Artists' Freedom. In 2018 he was awarded a Freedom of the City of London and made a Member of the Order of the Empire for services to the Arts in the Queen's Birthday honours.

Selected productions

Stage

*1952 '' Uranium 235'' by

*1953 ''

'' by

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 ...

(debut production at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East) *1955 '' Volpone'' by

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

*1955 ''

'' (a part of the Shakespeare ''Apocrypha'') *1955 ''

'' by Bertholt Brecht *1957 ''You Won’t Always Be On Top'' by Henry Chapman *1957 '' The Quare Fellow'' by

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English and ...

*1958 '' The Hostage'' by

*1958 ''

'' by

Shelagh Delaney Shelagh Delaney, FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, ''A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war Br ...

*1959 ''

Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be'' is a 1960 West End musical comedy about Cockney low-life characters in the 1950s, including spivs, prostitutes, teddy-boys and corrupt policemen. The work is more of a play with music than a conventional m ...

'' by Frank Norman, music by

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...

*1959 '' Make Me An Offer'' (starring Diana Coupland) *1960 '' Sparrers Can't Sing'' icby

*1963 ''

'' by Joan Littlewood, and cast.

Film

*1961 ''

'' *1962 '' Sparrers Can't Sing'' ic— released as ''Sparrows Can't Sing'' in the US *1969 ''

Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British comedy musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivie ...

Former company members

* Joby Blanshard * James Booth *

Peter Bridgmont Peter Bridgmont (January 1929 - 24 June 2019) was an English actor, acting professor and author who has had an extensive career on stage, film, and television spanning over 60 years. Bridgmont, who is a Guildhall School of Music and Drama graduate ...

* Barbara Brown see

* Thomas Baptiste * Avis Bunnage *

Isla Cameron Isla Cameron (5 March 1927 – 3 April 1980) was a Scottish-born, English-raised actress and singer. AllMusic noted that "Cameron was one of a quartet of key figures in England's postwar folk song revival – and to give a measure of her importa ...

* George Cooper * Harry H. Corbett *

Barbara Cording Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously a ...

* Diana Coupland *

Bill Douglas William Gerald Douglas (17 April 1934 – 18 June 1991) was a Scottish film director best known for the trilogy of films about his early life. Biography Born in Newcraighall on the outskirts of Edinburgh, he was brought up initially by his ...

* Glynn Edwards * Frank Elliott *

Dudley Foster Frank Dudley Foster (7 August 1924 – 8 January 1973) was an English actor who regularly appeared in television roles. Foster was born in Brighouse, West Riding of Yorkshire. His family had established links with the theatre and a brother and ...

* Howard Goorney * Harry Greene *

Sheila Hancock Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and music ...

* Nigel Hawthorne * Ken Hill * Yootha Joyce *

John Junkin John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English actor and scriptwriter who had a long career in radio, television and film, specialising in comedy. Early life Born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of a policeman, he and hi ...

* Roy Kinnear * Marjie Lawrence *

* Murray Melvin * Brian Murphy * Alex MurrayLater producer of the

Moody Blues Moody may refer to: Places * Moody, Alabama, U.S. * Moody, Indiana, U.S. * Moody, Missouri, U.S. * Moody, Texas, U.S. * Moody County, South Dakota, U.S. * Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada * Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in Sout ...

* Frank Norman *

Jimmy Perry James Perry, (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016)Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. was an Engli ...

* Pat Phoenix *

* David Scase * George Sewell *

Victor Spinetti Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti (2 September 1929 – 19 June 2012) was a Welsh actor, author, poet, and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films ...

John Thaw John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series '' Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...

References and notes

Bibliography

*Coren, Michael; ''Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East'', Quartet Books, 1984; *Goorney, Howard; ''The Theatre Workshop Story'',

Methuen Publishing Ltd Methuen Publishing Ltd is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially Methuen mainly published non-fiction academic works, eventually diversifying to ...

, 1981; *Littlewood, Joan; ''Joan's Book: Joan Littlewood's Peculiar History as She Tells it'',

, 1994; {{ISBN, 0-413-64070-1

External links

Theatre Royal, Stratford East
''StratfordEast.com'' Theatre companies in London