Origins
From 1944 Caryl Jenner wrote Christmas Pantomimes for small time playhouses. During performances she would make note of the behaviour of the children, recording what scenes and sequences held their attention, and which did not. She began to formulate the principles that would guide her theatre and writing. In 1947 the ‘Mobile Theatre’ was born. Caryl's mission was to drive around the austere post-war towns of Britain, as well as isolated villages to bring theatre to new audiences. They supplemented their income by performing to adults in the evenings but their goal was always to captivate the minds and imagination of children.
The ‘Mobile Theatre’ continued to grow in reputation, gaining success and acclaim. In 1950 it changed its name to ‘The Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre’, to signify Caryl’s influence. In 1962, the name changed again, to the ‘Unicorn Theatre Club’. In 1967, the company gave up touring and took up the lease at the Arts Theatre in London, receiving a £10,000 annual grant from the Arts Council, which remained its home until the present Unicorn Theatre was built in 2005. Caryl Jenner died on the 29th of January 1973 at the age of 55. She left behind a theatre with national acclaim and a clear set of artistic principles.
Read more about this topic: Unicorn Theatre
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: “Look what I killed. Aren’t I the best?””
—Katharine Hamnett (b. 1948)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)