THEATRE lovers in Oxford are being given the chance to see up-close where acting legends such as Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Judi Dench trod the boards decades ago.
The New Theatre, in George Street, will be opening its doors and inviting people backstage to tour the dressing rooms, backstage corridors and the stage itself.
Theatre press officer Diana Hackett said: “We’ve done some with Open Oxford before, but it is the first time we’ve set them up to sell ourselves, so it is quite exciting.
“I think it will surprise people just how big it is backstage.
“It’s got a lot more history than people think.”
The theatre is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year – it opened its doors for the first time on February 26, 1934.
The building itself is in the art deco style, and was built to be ‘England’s Finest Theatre’.
Initially there will be one day of backstage tours, on Saturday, May 9, but if successful, it is planned to run them on a regular basis.
Miss Hackett said: “We’re going to get some feedback and see how popular it is. Ultimately we want to run them three or four times a year, working round our schedule of performances.
“Back in the 50s, it used to be on the tour for National Theatre plays so there has been some pretty amazing people who have played here.Towards the 70s, we had Led Zeppelin, we had Queen, we had everyone.”
Information about the stars who lit up the stage in the past has only recently become available, as the theatre has changed hands on a number of occasions.
Miss Hackett said: “The archives are patchy to say the least, but recently we’ve had a couple of people donate their old programmes, which is great. We would like people to think they can bring their programmes in and make it a more accessible building to local people.”
She added: “We’ve got all sorts of ghost stories to tell people as well — it’s a theatre, of course it has got ghosts.”
There will be four tours on May 9, catering for up to 30 people each.
Tickets, which must be bought in person from the New Theatre box office, cost £5 for adults or £2.50 for children.
For group bookings of more than 10 people, call 0800 5875007.
fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk
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