It doesn’t seem long since Creation Theatre was in serious financial trouble, with the 16-year-old company facing almost certain closure.

Now, though, things are looking much rosier. Arriving at Creation’s office in St Clements, I find the place bristling with activity and an almost tangible sense of optimism. At the helm is chief executive Lucy Askew, newly appointed to the post after five years with the company.

“Six months ago we really thought we’d be out of jobs now,” she tells me.

“It was really bleak. But the Christmas show sold well, and a lot of people have been very generous. The fundraising went very well, and we’re now in quite good shape for the year ahead.

“When you have to fight for something, it makes you realise how much it means to you.

“I think we all value the audience, Creation and the work we do in a completely different way now, because having nearly lost it, it is more precious. “And we realise that we’ve got to keep it here for at least another 16 years. There’s a lot more we want to do as well.”

The future of Creation certainly seems to be safe in Lucy’s hands. She brings a wealth of experience to her new role, along with bucketfuls of enthusiasm.

As with most theatre professionals, her passion for the theatre is rooted in her childhood, when she and her sisters used to put on plays for their family.

“If you like it when you’re little, then you’re hooked for life!” she says.

She grew up in High Wycombe, and gained a degree in theatre studies from Warwick University and a masters in visual performance from Dartington College of Art.

During that time, she had her first taste of Creation Theatre when she came along for two weeks as a work experience student.

“At the time I didn’t know anything about Creation. I got to see the shows, got lots of experience marketing and doing workshops with some of the children and absolutely loved it.”

For a while, Lucy moved away from the theatre world into education, but eventually the call of the stage was too great and she came back to Creation, this time running the education programme.

“It was because I had that education background that I ended up coming back here,” she says. “In five years I’ve done pretty much every role there is in Creation, and have got to know how every bit of the business works.”

Most of Creation’s income is through the box office and the education work, which includes several drama clubs for different age groups as well as holiday and school workshops.

But sponsorship and donations play a large part, too, and Lucy is very grateful for the level of support from local people and organisations.

“We raised just over £40,000 over Christmas, and that was all individuals donating money.

“But we do have brilliant companies who sponsor us, and we’ve had support from the county council and the city council as well recently, so that all helps keep us going.”

One of the noticeable things about Creation is the way locals have taken the company to their hearts, and this was undoubtedly a factor in its recent battle for survival.

“The support we got, it really felt like Oxford was cheering us on,” says Lucy. “Overwhelmingly at Christmas you realise it’s all those people in Oxford who appreciate our work and are prepared to put a bit of money in a bucket to keep it here, but also people are so generous with their time. People come and volunteer in the office, and email us with their ideas.

“Something we’re very keen to keep developing is that sense of it being Oxford’s theatre company and that they have an ownership and an involvement in the work that we do.”

The increasing difficulties in obtaining funding for the arts are, of course, widespread, but ironically Lucy feels that this gives Creation an edge over other companies.

“We’re quite fortunate in that we’ve always had to exist in that climate of getting sponsorship and ticket sales and donations here and there.

“We’re not in the situation lots of arts organisations are in where they’ve lost a lot of funding and have had to completely redefine how they work.

“For us, it’s just tweaking and developing what we do, but the basics remain the same.”

Indeed, it is very much business as usual. The original vision of founder David Parrish — to put on innovative productions in exciting and unusual spaces — is still the driving force behind everything Creation does.

The next production is a one-man show, Jekyll and Hyde, which runs from June 8 to July 6 among the bookshelves of Blackwell’s Norrington Room.

“We’re using the space in a different way, and it’s going to be so exciting,” says Lucy.

“I was reading the script and it’s really fast-paced, just how he transforms into those different characters — it’s going to be a real adventure to go and see it.”

The summer production will be Henry V, in the glorious setting of Oxford Castle, and there is something very special lined up for Christmas, with details to be revealed a bit later on.

So with Creation now on a more stable footing, what is Lucy’s vision for the future?

“To really get back to doing exciting shows in exciting venues in Oxford.

“Hopefully sometimes taking shows to other places, but Oxford is so much the heart of what we do, we just want to be able to continue delivering high-quality work for our Oxford audience, to grow our education work, get more community involvement in the shows and just keep going from strength to strength.

“We’re the most secure we’ve been in the last year, and it feels like we’ve got such robust plans for the next few years that I think we do feel confident in what we’re doing.”

For details on Creation’s forthcoming programme, visit creationtheatre.co.uk