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Post by tonyloco on Dec 1, 2018 11:38:35 GMT
The actor David Conville, who died on 24 November aged 89, began running the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park in 1962 with David William as artistic Director and founded the New Shakespeare Company there in 1963. He handed over the management of the company to Ian Talbot in 1987 but continued to play an active role in the work of the theatre for over 50 years in total. To this day the Open Air Theatre remains one of the jewels of London's theatre scene and we all owe a great deal to David Conville for his pioneering work at this very special venue.
The story of the Open Air Theatre is fascinatingly told in David's splendid 2007 book 'The Park' (Oberon Books), which is crammed with information about all the productions and the many actors and actresses who performed there.
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Post by Tibidabo on Dec 1, 2018 14:32:04 GMT
Ashamed to say, as he was obviously such an important figure, I had never heard of David Conville. Always an education tonyloco ! You are a historical treasure trove. I think I may know the answer to this, but did you know him personally? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2018 14:34:11 GMT
He was a good age but still sad news.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 1, 2018 23:10:09 GMT
Ashamed to say, as he was obviously such an important figure, I had never heard of David Conville. Always an education tonyloco ! You are a historical treasure trove. I think I may know the answer to this, but did you know him personally? Yes, I was resident pianist for seven years for the annual fund-raising gala in the Park at the latter part of David Conville's era. The organising of the gala was mainly done by Ian Talbot – a triumph of diplomacy every time, keeping all those guest performers happy – but David was always around and generally made a cameo appearance in a sketch or something like that. I worked with him only once on an actual production, which was The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1984 starring Ronald Fraser, Kate O'Mara, Berwick Kaler and Dora Bryan with Richard E. Grant also in the company. It was done in a Victorian setting and I found recordings of music played on barrel organs and hurdy gurdies that was used to create an appropriate atmosphere. I was surprised and delighted to find that David mentioned me three times in his book The Park.
But, Tibidabo, if you were not a jobbing actor working in British theatre from the 1960s to the 1980s or a frequenter of the Open Air Theatre during that period then it is unlikely that you would have heard of Mr Conville. |
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Post by Tibidabo on Dec 2, 2018 10:09:23 GMT
I was surprised and delighted to find that David mentioned me three times in his book The Park. Impressive! if you were not a jobbing actor working in British theatre from the 1960s to the 1980s or a frequenter of the Open Air Theatre during that period then it is unlikely that you would have heard of Mr Conville. You are too kind Tony. Jobbing actor of that period, definitely not. And I'm afraid I have a total aversion to the Open Air Theatre having never got over being forced by my mother to sit on a stone slab, in the pouring rain, for 3 hours before I could even pronounce 'spear carrier.' (I might be mixing the stone slab bit up with that place in Cornwall, but you kind of get the idea of what my early childhood was like...😣. Consequently, I really don't do outdoors in the UK.) Thank you for educating us Tony. I love this board! |
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 2, 2018 12:52:40 GMT
You are too kind Tony. Jobbing actor of that period, definitely not. And I'm afraid I have a total aversion to the Open Air Theatre having never got over being forced by my mother to sit on a stone slab, in the pouring rain, for 3 hours before I could even pronounce 'spear carrier.' (I might be mixing the stone slab bit up with that place in Cornwall, but you kind of get the idea of what my early childhood was like...😣. Consequently, I really don't do outdoors in the UK.) I hear what you are saying, Tibidabo, but the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park is actually a very comfortable venue and if it does start to rain then there is ample covered shelter in the extensive bar area for the entire audience to remain dry. And the open-air setting with trees and shrubs as a background can provide the most magical experience at the end of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' on a calm summer's evening when fairy lights suddenly appear in the branches of the trees to enhance Shakespeare's evocative words as the actors perform the closing scenes of the play. It is a unique experience, which I first encountered in about 1965 when the audience still sat in treacherous canvas deck chairs that might collapse at any moment, and continues to this day to work its magic in varying degrees whenever 'The Dream' is staged there. And it is also a surprisingly effective location for musicals as the recent successes of 'On the Town' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' among others have shown. So I hope one day you will change your views on outdoor theatre and give Regent's Park a go one warm night in the future! |
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Post by Tibidabo on Dec 2, 2018 15:48:55 GMT
Tony you paint a wonderful picture - I have, in fact, seen Dream at Pendley (it stayed warm...ish) and you do justice to the twinkling effects as darkness falls.
However, as it is always necessary to purchase tickets in advance and the British weather being what it is...well, you can understand my reluctance. Also, my own theatre company started to perform outdoors some years ago and the soggy horrors of that experience are, perhaps, for another thread at another time. Suffice to say it contributed a huge percentage to my 'temporary retirement' from am dram.
But I do accept that the Open Air Theatre is a true icon of British theatre. I just wish someone would move it to Marbella!
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Post by Fleance on Dec 4, 2018 1:40:44 GMT
The Conville years were the best, followed by much of the Talbot years. The Open Air featured real rep -- you could see the same actors in two or three plays a week. Now, a musical takes over a huge chunk of the season, so the rep is no more. RIP David Conville.
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 4, 2018 11:26:06 GMT
The Conville years were the best, followed by much of the Talbot years. The Open Air featured real rep -- you could see the same actors in two or three plays a week. Now, a musical takes over a huge chunk of the season, so the rep is no more. RIP David Conville.
But there was one occasion when the two things wondrously coincided, namely during the production of Kiss Me, Kate, when 'Too Darn Hot', the number that opens the second act, portrays the members of a repertory company playing The Taming of the Shrew sitting outside the stage door on a hot night bemoaning the heat. And this is exactly what we had on stage: the members of a genuine repertory company, being a collection of actors of varying ages and sizes and not a look-alike theatrical chorus. It was a truly inspired moment and one very unlikely to happen under other circumstances. It remains one of my most special memories of The Park, and I have quite a few of those. |
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Post by Fleance on Dec 4, 2018 23:24:14 GMT
One of my favorite seasons at the Open Air was the 1986 season, which featured Bernard Bresslaw's magnificent Bottom, in a Dream production which also featured Ralph Fiennes as Lysander. Fiennes was also a splendid Romeo (Sarah Woodward was Juliet) that summer, in an under-appreciated production directed by Declan Donnellan. The other highlight that season was a great production of Arms and the Man, directed by David Conville, starring Brian Deacon and Sarah Woodward, with Bernard Bresslaw as Major Petkoff.
The previous season (1985), Ralph Fiennes played an excellent Cobweb. In fact, when I mentioned to Ralph, some years later, that I had seen that production, he said "A friend of mine said I was the definitive Cobweb."
A few years later (1989), Bernard Bresslaw returned to the Park in The Swaggerer, a pleasant musical (music by Carl Davis) based on Miles Gloriosus by Plautus. That same summer, Bresslaw played Malvolio in a production which I regret having missed.
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