Significant People: Peter Cheeseman
This obituary was published on the Ayckbourn Blog during 2010.Peter Cheeseman: An Obituary
by Simon MurgatroydPeter Cheeseman, the founding director of the UK’s first permanent in-the-round theatre, died on Tuesday 27 April 2010.
Peter was the founding Artistic Director of the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, and its successor the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle- under-Lyme, from 1962 until he retired in 1998.
During the first two years at the Victoria Theatre, he worked alongside Alan Ayckbourn, who paid tribute to Peter and his commitment to the theatre.
“If there was a single quality in Peter that distinguished him, it was his passion. Peter's love shone through and inspired many, including me. I thank him for that.”
Peter’s dedication to establishing a theatre with strong community links which thrives to this day was also praised by Alan.
“Unusually, Peter devoted himself to a single place. He gave his life to it. He believed that theatre ought to spring from and reflect the community it belonged to. He stayed true to that belief and was an inspiration to his peers.”
Peter's role in the foundation of the Victoria Theatre came as a result of joining Stephen Joseph’s Studio Theatre Company in Scarborough for the summer of 1962 as a director. One of his first productions was Bernard Shaw’s O’Flaherty V.C. which starred Alan Ayckbourn in the title role.
Stephen had founded the first professional in-the-round company at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, in 1955. However, he was always looking for a permanent home for the company.
He found this in an abandoned cinema in Stoke-on-Trent, while the company was touring. This which would become the Victoria Theatre, the first permanent theatre-in-the-round in the UK when it opened on 9 October 1962.
The Studio Theatre company moved from Scarborough to Stoke-on- Trent, including Alan Ayckbourn, and Stephen appointed Peter as the manager of the new venue. In Stephen’s book Theatre In The Round, published in 1967, he wrote about the enthusiasm and commitment to the theatre which Peter would show throughout his entire career.
“Peter assumed the job of manager, in charge of the Victoria Theatre, with a free hand and the responsibility to get the theatre going. No easy task,” wrote Stephen. “But Cheeseman set about the task of winning an audience with huge enthusiasm and bristling energy.”
Between 1962 and 1964, Alan Ayckbourn worked alongside Peter as writer, director and actor. The world premiere of two of his plays would take place at the Victoria; Christmas V Mastermind – directed by Peter - and Mr Whatnot, which would become Alan’s first play to transfer to the West End.
Stephen Joseph died in 1967, by which time the Victoria had begun to thrive under Peter’s direction and would pioneer documentary theatre drawn from the local community. Such plays as The Jolly Potters, The Knotty and Fight For Shelton Bar were ground-breaking works which highlighted the experiences of the working people around the county.
In 1986, Peter achieved the long held ambition of moving the company to a purpose-built theatre-in-the-round, the New Vic. His achievements were marked by a CBE in 1998 and the Young Vic Award in 2009.
Peter’s intense commitment to the Victoria and the New Vic led to the development of a vibrant and successful regional theatre and one, alongside theatre in the round in Scarborough, which remained committed to pioneering theatre in the round in the UK.
Peter Cheeseman, 78, passed away on Tuesday 27 April 2010 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.