Creation Theatre Company

Creation Theatre Company is a producing theatre based in Oxford, England.[1] Founded in 1996 by David Parrish[2] the company became a charity in 2007[3] and produces site-specific adaptations of classic stories and Shakespeare.[4]

Management

The founding Artistic Director David Parrish announced his departure in 2010,[2] to take on a producing role at the National Theatre of Norway.[5] He was succeeded by James Erskine, who had previously worked for The Gate Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe.[2] Erskine left the company in 2012 and since 2012 Lucy Askew has been Artistic Producer of Creation Theatre.[6]

Cast and creative team

Creation does not have a fixed company of actors or artistic staff, instead using a freelance team for each project. Past Directors include Laurie Sansom,[7] Joanna Read,[8] Richard Beecham,[9] Gareth Machin,[10] Tim Carroll,[11] Natalie Abrahami,[12] Jonathan Holloway[13] and Charlotte Conquest.[14]

Performance venues

Creation has never had a theatre building and produces shows in unusual spaces across the city of Oxford and beyond. The first productions, from 1996 to 2002 were performed open air in the grounds of Magdalen College School. For Christmas performances between 2004 and 2011 the company erected a Spiegeltent in the car park of BMW Group Plant[2] with shows such as Beauty and the Beast[15] and The Winter's Tale. Following its renovation in 2005 Creation has performed seven shows at Oxford Castle. In 2011, Creation was the first theatre company to perform at Blackwell's Bookshop to perform Doctor Faustus,[16] and has gone on to perform Hamlet and The Odyssey, a co-production with The Factory Theatre Company,[16] and Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.[17] Since Christmas 2011 Creation has performed at The North Wall Arts Centre[18] with A Christmas Carol, Aladdin and the Magical Lamp, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Wind in the Willows.[19] Most recently, Creation has staged festive productions of Alice and Cinderella at The Mill Arts Centre, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four at the Oxford Mathematical Institute and an adventurous production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with scenes set across the Oxford City Centre. In 2019 Creation put on Dracula at the London Library.[20] In 2020 Creation performed live performances online via Zoom including, The Tempest, The Time Machine | A Virtual Reality (an adaptation of The Time Machine) and Alice | A Virtual Theme Park (an adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland).

Pascale Aebischer and Rachael Nicholas, University of Exeter, released The Digital Theatre Transformation Report - A Case study & a Digital Toolkit in October 2020. The case study is based on Creation's digital production, The Tempest Live, Interactive and In Your Living Room, one of the first productions made for the digital stage utilising Zoom at the beginning of April 2020. The report is aimed at performers and companies embarking on transforming their physical theatre practice into a digital mode of home working for both office staff and creative practitioners.

List of Creation productions

Production Year Venue Directed by
Romeo and Juliet 1996 Magdalen College School Grounds Sebastian Doggart
Macbeth 1997 Magdalen College School Grounds Zoe Seaton
Hamlet 1998 Magdalen College School Grounds Zoe Seaton
The Tempest/ Antony and Cleopatra 1999 Magdalen College School Grounds Zoe Seaton
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2000 Magdalen College School Grounds Zoe Seaton
Alice Through the Looking Glass 2000 Magdalen College School Grounds Laurie Sansom
Hamlet 2001 BMW Group Plant Zoe Seaton
Romeo and Juliet 2001 Magdalen College School Grounds Richard Beecham
Macbeth 2002 BMW Group Plant Zoe Seaton
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2002 Magdalen College School Grounds Zoe Seaton
Twelfth Night 2003 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Charlotte Conquest
The Tempest 2003 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Zoe Seaton
The Winter's Tale 2004 Mirror Tent, BMW Justin Butcher
Much Ado About Nothing 2004 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Charlotte Conquest
Romeo and Juliet 2004 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Abigail Anderson
A Christmas Carol 2004 Mirror Tent, BMW Abigail Anderson
The Comedy of Errors 2005 Mirror Tent, BMW Charlotte Conquest
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2005 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Zoe Seaton
The Snow Queen 2005 BMW Group Plant Charlotte Conquest
King Lear 2006 BMW Group Plant Douglas Rintoul
Macbeth 2006 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Gareth Machin
The Merchant of Venice 2006 Oxford Castle Gari Jones
Robin Hood 2006 Headington Hill Park, Oxford Adam Meggido
Arabian Nights 2006 Mirror Tent, BMW Dominic Cooke
Hamlet 2007 Oxford Castle Gardens Gari Jones
The Taming of the Shrew 2007 Oxford Castle Unlocked Courtyard Heather Davies
The Oxford Passion 2007 Oxford Castle Gardens Charlotte Conquest
Tales from the Brother's Grimm 2007 Mirror Tent, BMW Gari Jones
Measure for Measure 2008 The North Wall Charlotte Conquest
Much Ado About Nothing 2008 Oxford Castle Unlocked Courtyard Charlotte Conquest
Saints and Sinners 2008 St Michael at the North Gate Heather Davies
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2008 Headington Hill Park (in promenade) Zoe Seaton
Animal Farm 2008 Oxford Castle Gardens Joanna Read
Hans Christian Andersen's Magical Tales 2008 Mirror Tent, BMW Caroline Leslie
Othello 2009 New Road Baptist Church, Oxford Charlotte Conquest
Twelfth Night 2009 Said Business School Rooftop Amphitheatre Heather Davies
Beauty and the Beast 2009 Mirror Tent, MINI Plant Oxford Sarah Punshon
Romeo and Juliet 2010 Said Business School Rooftop Amphitheatre Charlotte Conquest
Rapunzel or The Magic Pig 2010 Mirror Tent, MINI Plant Oxford Charlotte Conquest
Doctor Faustus 2010 Blackwell's Bookshop Charlotte Conquest
Tales from King James 2011 St Barnabus Church Helen Tennison
Antony and Cleopatra 2011 Said Business School Rooftop Amphitheatre Helen Tennison
A Christmas Carol 2011 The North Wall Arts Centre Charlotte Conquest
Hamlet 2012 Blackwell's Bookshop Tim Carroll
The Odyssey 2012 Blackwell's Bookshop Tim Carroll
Richard II 2012 Oxfam House Ashtar Theatre Company
The Comedy of Errors 2012 Sheldonian Theatre Corinne Jaber
The Merchant of Venice 2012 Said Business School Rooftop Amphitheatre Natalie Abrahami
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp 2012 The North Wall Arts Centre Charlotte Conquest
Jekyll and Hyde 2013 Blackwell's Bookshop Caroline Devlin
Henry V 2013 Oxford Castle Unlocked Courtyard Charlotte Conquest
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2013 The North Wall Arts Centre Charlotte Conquest
Macbeth 2014 Lady Margaret Hall Jonathan Holloway
The Wind in the Willows 2014 The North Wall Arts Centre Gari Jones
As You Like It 2015 Lady Margaret Hall Tom Littler
Alice 2015 St Hugh's College Helen Tennison
Treasure Island 2015 The North Wall Arts Centre Gari Jones
Alice 2015 The Mill Arts Centre Helen Tennison
King Lear 2016 The Norrington Room, Blackwell's Bookshop Charlotte Conquest
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2016 Across West Oxford (in promenade) Zoe Seaton
Hamlet 2016 University Parks Gari Jones
Cinderella 2016 The Mill Arts Centre Helen Tennison
Snow White and Other Tales from

the Brother's Grimm

2016 The North Wall Arts Centre Gari Jones
Nineteen Eighty Four 2017 Oxford's Mathematical Institute Jonathan Holloway
A Midsummer Night's Dream 2017 Across West Oxford (in promenade) Zoe Seaton
Alice 2017 University Parks Helen Tennison
Pictures of Dorian Gray 2019 Blackwells Tom Littler (Jermyn Street Theatre)
The Tempest 2019 Osney Mead (in promenade) Zoe Seaton
Don Quixote 2019 Oxford Covered Market Jonathan Holloway
The Snow Queen 2019/20 North Walls Arts Centre
Bleak House 2020 Blackwell's Bookshop Deborah Newbold
The Tempest Live 2020 Live online via Zoom Zoe Seaton
The Time Machine | A Virtual Reality 2020 Live online via Zoom Natasha Rickman
Alice | A Virtual Theme Park 2020 Live online via Zoom Zoe Seaton

Critical reception

Publication Year Excerpt
2ndfrombottom 2021 "Visually the production is a treat and deploys some clever video trickery"[21]
From page to stage 2020 "An imaginative and enjoyable show for these extraordinary times"[22]
Love London Love Culture 2020 "immensely enjoyable, fun-filled and ambitious"[23]

References

  1. ^ "Creation Theatre Company". tripadvisor.co.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Creation Theatre company celebrates its 16th birthday (The Oxford Times)". The Oxford Times. 8 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Charity Overview". The Charity Commission.
  4. ^ "Creation Theatre on Shakespearemag.com". Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Contact – nationaltheatret.no". National Theatre of Norway website. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  6. ^ "For Art's Sake with Creation Theatre's Lucy Askew (From the Oxford Times)". The Oxford Times. 12 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Daily Info Oxford". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  8. ^ "United Agents". United Agents.
  9. ^ "The Oxford Times". The Oxford Times. 20 June 2013.
  10. ^ "National Theatre Website". Royal National Theatre. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015.
  11. ^ "The Public Reviews". Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  12. ^ "United Agents". United Agents. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Jonathan Holloway". Red Shift Theatre.
  14. ^ "Shepperd-Fox Theatrical Agency". shepperd-fox.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  15. ^ Gardner, Lyn (8 January 2010). "Beauty and the Beast Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Deep Blue Sea, West Yorkshire Playhouse / Doctor Faustus, Blackwell's Bookshop, review". The Daily Telegraph. 23 February 2011.
  17. ^ "Blackwell's and Creation Theatre Present Jekyll & Hyde". Blackwell's Bookshop website.
  18. ^ "Creation Theatre". newburytheatre.co.uk. UK. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015.
  19. ^ Pulver, Andrew (January 2015). "The Wind in the Willows review – fine, meta-sprinkled adaptation". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Dracula at the London Library: Influential Gothic Novel Returns To Its Spiritual Home". Londonist. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  21. ^ Chapman, John (19 March 2021). "The Duchess Of Malfi (Online review)". 2nd from Bottom. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Review: The Tempest: Live, interactive and in your living room". From page to stage - and everything in between. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  23. ^ Clarendon, AuthorEmma (8 August 2020). "REVIEW: Alice: A Virtual Theme Park, Creation Theatre". Love London Love Culture. Retrieved 20 April 2021.