The People’s Theatre – key
Part 1
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In context:
The great actor Sir Laurence Olivier described the People’s Theatre Arts Group as ‘this remarkable enterprise’, while the playwright George Bernard Shaw declared ‘I like this People’s Theatre’.
The People’s is a theatre company set up in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1911 and run 1 entirely by amateurs with high aspirations who take great pride in working to professional standards 2. Every show is produced entirely by the theatre’s members – on stage, backstage and front-of-house 3 – and this means people from all walks of life 4 can enjoy the experience of participating in any aspect of theatre from costume 5 design to publicity. They stage 6 up to 12 productions a year in their 500-seat main auditorium 7 and a further 8 3 productions in a 90-seat studio.
Among their many achievements the People’s Theatre introduced Newcastle to Chekhov’s plays ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Proposal 9‘ in 1916 and performed the first 10 of many productions of Shakespeare plays in 1922, with ‘The Merry 11 Wives of Windsor’. The première 12 of Stravinsky’s "The Tale of a Soldier 13" was performed in 1926. In 1921 George Bernard Shaw visited the theatre, and encouraged the venture by offering the company a percentage of his royalty fees 14, a generous gesture. In 1976 the poet and playwright 15 Tony Harrison granted the People’s Theatre the first amateur rights to perform his translation 16 and adaptation of Molière’s ‘Misanthrope‘ in England since its professional première at the National Theatre in London, one of Britain’s most prestigious 17 professional theatres. One reviewer at the time wrote of this production: " It was a pioneering 18 work …… and a splendid tribute 19 to the People’s Theatre that their talents were always neck and neck with their subject. It deserves packed 20 houses."
Part 2
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In context:
Part 2
The range of productions at the People’s remains extremely varied, from the usual classic international repertoire21 of comedies and tragedies up to the most avant-garde of plays, but ‘The World of Sweeney Todd’ made People’s Theatre history for another reason, as a Northern Echo critic pointed out: "For a company that is famed, and rightly so 22, for the quality of its straight 23 acting, this musical was a revelation. It proved 24, if proof were needed, that that there can be few amateur groups in the country with such a wealth and variety of talent at its disposal."
Echoing 25 Sir Laurence Olivier’s earlier description of the People’s, a review of ‘The World of Sweeney Todd’, put on at the People’s in 1962, describes it as a ‘remarkable enterprise’ and ‘a most unusual venture’.
"…It was a brainwave 26 to turn the whole thing into a musical, for it is a riotous success. Peter Stattersfield’s tunes are as catchy 27 as they come’. (*Northern Echo 28 May 1962.) The Newcastle Chronicle said, "With a little more money in the coffers this show could walk straight into London’s West End 28 for an 18-month run 29."
The musical even made news in The Guardian (6.6.1962): "The audience hisses, boos 30 and shouts when Todd slithers on to the stage, it joins in 31 the choruses and – something I have rarely heard after big popular musicals – it is still humming snatches 32 of the tunes along Scotswood Road afterwards. The critic, David Bean, called Peter Stattersfield "Rye Hill’s answer to Lionel Bart". Praise indeed! The composer and the producer Bill Scott subsequently interviewed on television, and a half-hour 33 version for radio was recorded by the BBC.
Peter Stattersfield went on 34 to compose for other musicals such as ‘No Women Mr Shakespeare’, ‘The Time Steppers’, ‘Aladdin’, and ‘Ernest’, a musical version of Noel Coward’s play ‘The Importance of being Ernest’. Many members of the original stage team 35 for ‘Sweeney Todd’ were involved in these other productions.