6:10am Thursday 9th July 2009
When he walked past Oxford’s semi-derelict former LMS railway station in the 1970s, aspiring actor Andrew Macbean can scarcely have imagined that one day he would take to the stage on that very same site.
“I was at the Oxford Poly from 1974-77,” Andrew told me. “When I left school, and told my mother that I wanted to train to be an actor, she said, ‘no, you need to do something that will give you a job’. So, thinking that most actors spend a lot of time waiting at tables when ‘resting’, I went to the poly to study hotel and catering management. I came into acting later on in life, about ten years ago.”
The LMS station, with its structural ironwork closely allied in design to that of London’s Crystal Palace, was dismantled in 1999, and moved to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton — an event that caused very considerable controversy.
In its place rose the Said Business School, with its green-topped tower facing the present-day Oxford railway station.
On the first floor at the back of the Said is a semi-circular, open-air amphitheatre designed along classical lines by Said architects Dixon Jones.
This summer sees the first professional production on the site — Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, presented by Creation Theatre.
“I think the amphitheatre was the combined idea of the architects and Mr Said himself,” explained Said Business School head of facilities Mat Davies. “It’s designed to seat 400, but the comfortable maximum is 300 to 350. Otherwise people would be sitting packed in like sardines. The seats are solid concrete, so it would be a very good idea to bring cushions — and hopefully you will also need sunglasses, suncream and hats!”
The play starts with a shipwreck. As the Said amphitheatre is almost as far from the sea as it’s possible to be in this country, Twelfth Night director Heather Davies decided she needed to import some flotsam and jetsam to give atmosphere. Result? A trip to Avonmouth Beach to do a bit of scavenging.
“One of the things I noticed when we were in the amphitheatre was how much the elements are present,” Heather said when we met during rehearsals. “I thought it would be quite hard to create an indoor palace in the amphitheatre. So instead I want to bring in the elements — fire, water and earth. Of course, the sky is there already.”
Ah yes, “the elements”. Creation has been brought to the brink of financial disaster by Oxford’s last two cold, rain-plagued summers. So this year there is a contingency plan — if the heavens open, actors and audience will move indoors, to the Said’s Nelson Mandela lecture theatre.
I asked Heather, if she needed to prepare her actors for two different atmospheres?
“The priority is the outdoor space. But I have a back-up plan in my back pocket as to how to adjust the production to go indoors. It’s like a mini-tour, where you’re switching from one theatre to another.”
With a modern amphitheatre designed in classical style, the question is inevitable: Is Creation’s Twelfth Night going to be staged in modern or period style, and does Heather plan any controversial changes?
“There’s the timeless element of being a castaway. You could be a castaway in the 1600s, or you could be Tom Hanks as a castaway in a film. But the play also has to relate to us here and now, so the production will be a combination of the modern and the classic, like the amphitheatre itself.
“The mere fact that we’re doing the play with only eight actors will probably disturb some classicists. Also I don’t think we should do plays simply because somebody told us they were good at one point in time. I think we have to be rigorous about why we do the plays that we do.”
“So yes,” Heather added, with laughter, “There are a couple of things that get adjusted. But I do hope that they are of benefit to the evening.”
lTwelfth Night opens at the Said Business School, Park End Street, Oxford, tonight, and continues until September 5. Tickets: 01865 766266 or online at creationtheatre.co.uk
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