STIRRING UP SHEFFIELD, a Book About the Battle To Build the Crucible Theatre, Will Launch Next Month

Stirring Up Sheffield is the extraordinary story of a group of visionaries who came together to build a revolutionary thrust stage theatre in Sheffield, fifty years ago. It was a daring venture, the high watermark of experimentation in post-War British theatre and caused a battle amongst the UK's theatrical elite.

But building the Crucible was - as the dictionary defines the theatre's name - 'a severe trial', which tested its creators to their very limits. The radical design of the auditorium - which redefined the actor/audience relationship - aroused fierce opposition from Sheffield's conservative quarters and several of the era's theatrical luminaries. But it also galvanised a new generation of Britain's actors, directors, designers and playwrights who launched a passionate defence of the thrust stage and its theatrical potential.

So why did Sheffield opt for a thrust stage, and why was this design so controversial? At the book's launch at 3pm-5pm on Thursday 11th November, the book's co-author, Tedd George, explores the intense debates over the theatre's design, the people who inspired the thrust stage - among them Sir Tyrone Guthrie and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch - and the brilliant architects and engineers who turned their vision into concrete and steel. Drawing on material from his father's archives and interviews with the surviving protagonists, among them the Crucible's architect, Nick Thompson, Tedd reconstructs the design process that created what is arguably the most successful thrust stage ever built in the UK, and the technical innovations that were developed to achieve this.

Tedd also explores the battle of ideas over the Crucible's creation, which pitted the Sheffield Star, local councillors and the so-called 'Three Knights' - Sir Bernard Miles, Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Clements - against the Morning Telegraph and Britain's leading theatrical innovators, among them Michael Elliot, Peter Cheeseman and Alan Ayckbourn. Ultimately this battle drove Tedd's father to resign as Artistic Director only one year after the Crucible's opening, and it would be nearly forty years before he returned to the thrust stage he had helped create.

The presentation is free to all but, to comply with COVID regulations, we require an email RSVP from those wishing to attend (email info@wordville.net). Sheffield Theatres continues to follow the industry-wide safety protocols and Government guidance for indoor entertainment. The majority of the safety measures that have been put in place will remain the same. This includes the strong recommendation of the use of face coverings, unless exempt.

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