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Theatre Of Birmingham
Birmingham is an important centre for theatre in the United Kingdom. The earliest known performances in the city were medieval pageants and miracle plays. Birmingham's first permanent theatres and theatrical companies were founded in the 1740s, drawing both actors and performance styles from the fashionable theatres of London. During World War II, the Birmingham Blitz forced all performance venues in the city to close; most would stay closed throughout the war. The postwar introduction of television led to further theatre closures. Today, Birmingham is home to Four major producing theatres--Birmingham Repertory Theatre, The Crescent Theatre, the Old Rep, and the Blue Orange Theatre—as well as a number of touring venues, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Birmingham Opera Company. History Early performers and venues What evidence remains of drama in medieval Birmingham suggests that it was largely religious in its basis. The Guild of the Holy Cross was established in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Birmingham Hippodrome
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England. Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End shows, pantomime and drama. With a regular annual attendance of over 600,000, the Hippodrome is the busiest single theatre in the United Kingdom, and the busiest venue for dance outside London. History The first venue built on the Hippodrome site was a building of assembly rooms in 1895. In 1899 the venue was redesigned by local architect F. W. Lloyd, a stage and circus ring was added together with a Moorish tower (removed 1963) and the enterprise named it the "Tower of Varieties". After failing, this was soon rebuilt as a normal variety theatre, reopened as the "Tivoli" in 1900, finally becoming "The Hippodrome" under the ownership of impresario Thomas Barrasford in October 1903. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Medieval Pageant
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi, which began after the thirteenth century. This festival reenacted the entire history of the world, in processional performance, from Bible's Genesis to the Apocalypse, employing hundreds of performers and mobile scenic elements. Plays were performed on mobile stages, called ''waggons'', that traveled through towns so plays could be watched consecutively. Each waggon was sponsored by a guild who wrote, designed, and acted in the plays. 20th century revival The form was revived in the early 20th century by the English dramatist Louis N. Parker, who staged the Sherbourne Pageant in 1905, followed by the Warwick Pageant in 1906. The success of these productions led to a proliferation of pageant plays in Engla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
John Ward (actor)
John Ward (24 June 1704 – 30 October 1773) was an English actor and theatre manager. The founder of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – a Birmingham-based theatre company who toured throughout the West Midlands and into Wales during the mid to late eighteenth century – he was the first of the Kemble family theatrical dynasty, whose most notable member was his granddaughter Sarah Siddons. Ward was the first recorded performer of a Shakespearian play in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is also notable as the author of the two earliest surviving prompt books of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...'', which reveal how the play was performed in eighteenth century England and also throw light on earlier practice. References Bibliography * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Moor Street Theatre
The Moor Street Theatre was the first regular theatre – as distinct from earlier booths and converted barns for strolling players – to be established in Birmingham, England. Located in a back yard between Moor Street and Park Street north of the Bull Ring, it opened in 1740 with a performance of "Oratorio with Vocal and Instrumental Musick". Although the theatre was not purpose-built for dramatic performances, surviving records show that it had boxes, a pit, a balcony and two galleries, together with significant backstage machinery, suggesting that it was a substantial structure. Plays were performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings between July and October. During cold weather the theatre was heated by burning fires for two days before a performance. Like all early Birmingham theatres the Moor Street Theatre was not licensed for dramatic performance, so technically charged for the performance of music during the interval - the play itself being given free of charge. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
