History
Replacing a former repertory theatre, the present complex was opened in 1965 in a riverside site, incorporating a restaurant and bar available to non-theatregoers. The foundation stone was laid by Vanessa Redgrave who commemorated the occasion by casting her hands in concrete.
The company opted to dispense with traditional repertory theatre in favour of a more flexible model in which actors are cast as appropriate to different productions. Many stars have performed at the theatre over the years. Stephen Barry was a young assistant director in the 1960s. The first artistic director, Laurier Lister, was succeeded in 1975 by Val May.
Founding chairman was one-time Mayor of Guildford Archie Graham-Brown.
Read more about this topic: Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“When the history of this period is written, [William Jennings] Bryan will stand out as one of the most remarkable men of his generation and one of the biggest political men of our country.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)