Theatre Information for Theatre Royal Stratford East
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Theatre Royal Stratford East details
Address:
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Gerry Raffles Square
E15 1BN
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Theatre Royal Stratford East
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Stratford
Theatre Royal Stratford East History
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford, London,
which opened in 1884. It is home of the Theatre Workshop company.
The Theatre Royal Stratford East became world famous in the fifties and
sixties as the home of the Theatre Workshop company under the direction
of Joan Littlewood. Her productions of new shows such as A Taste of
Honey, The Hostage and Oh, What a Lovely War brought a much-needed
robust spirit to British drama. This tradition of adventurous and
occasionally controversial work was maintained at Stratford East
throughout the eighties. These artistic aspirations and guiding
principles still inform the work of the company today, and are
expressed in the Company Mission Statement.
In 1990 Five Guys Named Moe transferred to the West End - the fourth
Stratford East production to do so in ten years. In the same year the
Theatre Royal was awarded Enhancement Funding by the Arts Council of
Great Britain to support the Theatre''s policy of low ticket prices and
it received the Prudential Award for Theatre to support new writing
development.
The citation for the Prudential Award was as follows:
The Theatre Royal was made famous in the 1950s by the Theatre Workshop
Company led by Joan Littlewood and Gerry Raffles. Under the present
leadership of Philip Hedley, in a time of restriction and entrenchment
of the arts, they have increased their programme, developed an
enthusiastic multi-racial audience of every class and age group, and
most successfully promoted new writing with particular emphasis on
populist, Afro Asian and young people''s work.
As well as being World famous for its productions the Theatre Royal has
become renowned for its audience, it is probably the only audience in
the country which is consistently reviewed!
"Stratford East has one of the liveliest, and most culturally mixed
audiences in Britain."
Financial Times
"Strapped for cash it may be but the Theatre Royal Stratford East has
taken good care to secure its other vital resource. Its unique audience
relationship has always been a major asset."
The Evening Standard
"If your experience of theatre-going lies in the West End, you hardly
know the half of what live theatre can be. The great marvel of the
Theatre Royal is its audience, which is harmoniously multi-racial,
largely working class and highly appreciative."
Financial Times
"The Theatre Royal remains a splendid example of the vitality of the
theatre."
Evening Standard
"Stratford East audiences are generally marvelous. Indeed, if I was
compiling a good audience guide, they would go top of my list."
Michael Billington - The Guardian
"Thank heavens for the Theatre Royal."
The Observer
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