John Counsell (theatre director)

John Counsell OBE (April 24, 1905 February 23, 1987) was an English actor, director and theatre manager, who (with his wife Mary Kerridge) ran the Theatre Royal, Windsor and its in-house repertory company from the 1930s to the 1980s. His daughter is the actress Elizabeth Counsell, and he was uncle to the actress and painter Jean Miller. Born in Beckenham, to Claud Counsell and Evelyn Fleming, the bulk of Counsell's career was spent in Windsor repertory theatre and the West-end stage.

Theatre management

In 1930 Counsell served as an apprentice at the Theatre Royal in Windsor, Berkshire, when it reopened as a theatre after a short time as a cinema. In 1933 he took over managing the theatre; the venture lasted only a few months before it went bankrupt, but the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II attended one of the last performances, coming from nearby Windsor Castle. Counsell re-opened the theatre in 1938 and was able to establish a viable company that ran without government subsidies. He and his actress wife Mary Kerridge ran the theatre until his retirement in 1986, the year before his death.

Theatre Royal

Theatre Royal is the name of many theatres, especially in the United Kingdom. The name was once an indication that the theatre was a patent theatre, with a Royal Patent without which performances of serious drama would be illegal.

Places

  • Theatre Royal, Aston (1895, cinema 1927, TV studios 1956, 1968 demolished), one of two in Birmingham
  • Theatre Royal, Bath, Somerset
  • Theatre Royal, Birmingham (1774–1956), on New Street, one of two in Birmingham
  • Theatre Royal, Brighton
  • Theatre Royal, Bristol
  • Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
  • Theatre Royal, Cardiff, later known as Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff
  • Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London; the third Theatre Royal built on the site became the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1892.
  • Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
  • Theatre Royal, Dumfries
  • Theatre Royal, Edinburgh
  • Theatre Royal, Exeter
  • Theatre Royal, Glasgow
  • Theatre Royal, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent (opened 1852, rebuilt 1871, 1887, 1894, 1951, closed 2000)
  • Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London
  • Theatre Royal, Hyde, Hyde, Greater Manchester (opened 1902, closed 1992)
  • Theatre Royal, Plymouth

    The Theatre Royal, in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England. It consists of a large main auditorium that can produce West End musicals, opera and ballet; a smaller experimental theatre called The Drum; and, on a separate site, a production and learning centre known as TR2. In 2012/13 the theatre received £1,178,579 in funding awards from Arts Council England. A £7 million Regeneration Project was completed in September 2013 with a renovated front of house area and community performance space called the Lab.

    History

    In 1758 a theatre was built at the top of George Street in Plymouth. Originally known as the Theatre, Frankfort-Gate, it adopted the name Theatre Royal after King George III and his family visited it in 1789.

    In 1810 Plymouth Corporation held a competition for the design of a new theatre, hotel and assembly rooms at the bottom of George Street. The competition was won by John Foulston, who built a neo-classical block of buildings between 1811 and 1813. The new Theatre Royal opened in 1813 and could seat 1,192. Foulston's buildings formed a frontage of 268 feet (82 m) facing George's Place that was dominated by a portico with 30-foot (9.1 m)-high ionic columns. The theatre was on the west side of this portico, with the hotel and assembly rooms on the east. Foulston used thick walls to separate the auditorium from the foyer, corridors and the hotel next door to minimise the risk of fire damage. The whole inner structure was built of cast iron for the same purpose, and Foulston believed it was the only fireproof theatre in the country. Despite these precautions, the theatre suffered a disastrous interior fire in June 1878; by January 1879 it had been repaired and reopened.

    Theatre Royal, Edinburgh

    Four theatre buildings in Edinburgh have borne the name Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, though the final three were all rebuildings of the second. The first was the Theatre Royal, Shakespeare Square, at the east end of Princes Street. This was opened 9 December 1769 by actor manager David Ross, and was at its peak from 1815 to 1850, being rebuilt in 1830.

    It was demolished in 1859 and the royal patent and title transferred to the Queen's Theatre and Operetta House on an earlier Circus (previously the Adelphi Theatre). The manager of the theatre was Robert Henry Wyndham. It burned down and was rebuilt in 1865, 1875, and 1884, each time retaining the patent and the same site.

    References

    External links

  • Playbills of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh from National Library of Scotland
  • Arthur Lloyd
  • Paul Iles and The Laughing Audience playbill collection
  • Edinburgh's Theatre Royal – a history
  • Podcasts:

    developed with YouTube
    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Latest News for: theatre royal, windsor

    Edit

    Linda Nolan, singer who topped the charts with her sisters but was dogged by misfortune – obituary

    The Daily Telegraph 15 Jan 2025
    Having been the youngest girl to be offered a scholarship to the Royal ... The following year she played Madam Holly Spencer in the musical drama Rumpy Pumpy! (Theatre Royal Windsor, and Union, London).
    Edit

    Women In Rock announced 14 new events

    Ents24 14 Jan 2025
    Theatre Royal, Windsor Fri 24th Jan ... Bacup Royal Court Theatre Fri 14th Mar ... Royal Hippodrome Theatre, ...
    Edit

    Women In Rock announced 17 new events

    Ents24 14 Jan 2025
    Theatre Royal, Windsor Fri 24th Jan ... Bacup Royal Court Theatre Fri 14th Mar ... Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne Fri 23rd May.
    Edit

    The American Four Tops announced 13 new events

    Ents24 24 Dec 2024
    Theatre Royal, Windsor Thu 16th Jan ... New Theatre Royal, Lincoln Fri 28th Mar ... Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne .
    Edit

    He was a human Glitterball: Strictly stars celebrate Robin Windsor’s life

    AOL 03 Nov 2024
    Introducing Sunday night’s show at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Du Beke compared Windsor to the shimmering Strictly trophy, with Riley adding she hoped the dancer would “shine down on us all and keep shining in heaven”.
    Edit

    Strictly stars unite for emotional celebration honouring late Robin Windsor

    Metro UK 03 Nov 2024
    Strictly stars reunited to pay tribute to the late Robin Windsor (Picture ... Windsor died earlier this year aged 44 (Picture ... Deborah Meadon, who danced with him in 2013, also appeared on the tribute show at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
    Edit

    Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington embrace as the former Strictly Come Dancing partners attend an...

    The Daily Mail 03 Nov 2024
    The broadcaster, 80, and Strictly pro, 29, were among the stars who attended a VIP reception for Celebrating Robin Windsor. The Final Act at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane ... The Final Act at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
    Edit

    Strictly’s Pasha Kovalev fights back tears after Robin Windsor’s death

    AOL 24 Oct 2024
    Windsor died in February aged 44 and some of his former co-stars and friends are performing a tribute show in his memory at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane on 3 November, titled Robin Windsor - The Final Act.
    Edit

    Filumena, Theatre Royal, Windsor, review: Felicity Kendal enchants in this evergreen comedy of gender politics

    AOL 10 Oct 2024
    We should vociferously applaud the decision to revive Italian playwright Eduardo De Filippo’s classic 1946 Neapolitan comedy (and arguably his magnum opus) for the Windsor stage, given that it was last performed in the UK back in 2012 ... .
    Edit

    Filumena review – Felicity Kendal and Matthew Kelly go toe to toe in Naples

    The Guardian 10 Oct 2024
    Theatre Royal Windsor Eduardo de Filippo’s ode to the family is revived with a stylish design but does not reach enough comical or emotional peaks A quirk of Eduardo de Filippo’s 1946 Neapolitan ...
    Edit

    Filumena review: The good life? Felicity lives la dolce vita in this Italian romcom, writes PATRICK...

    The Daily Mail 10 Oct 2024
    Filumena (Theatre Royal, Windsor) ... Felicity Kendal (seen in Filumena at Windsor's Theatre Royal) has a theatrical gift which keeps on giving ... Theatre Royal Bath's production works 'plus-well' as a ...
    Edit

    The Cat and the Canary review – 1920s mystery stuffed with preposterous pleasures

    The Observer 08 Oct 2024
    If walls could talk you’d want to hear the rock’n’roll history at Redlands, Keith Richards’ country pile, whose infamy inspired Chichester Festival theatre’s new production ... “Not me, I’ve played Theatre Royal Windsor!” he replies.
    Edit

    Ballet Theatre UK announced 11 new events

    Ents24 02 Oct 2024
    Theatre Royal, Bury St ... Theatre Royal, Windsor Sat 2nd Nov. Mansfield Palace Theatre Fri ...
    Edit

    Ballet Theatre UK announced 9 new events

    Ents24 02 Oct 2024
    Theatre Royal, Bury St ... Theatre Royal, Windsor Sat 2nd Nov.

    Most Viewed

    ×