Curtain Goes Up On Pegasus Reunion
Filed Under Shower Curtain | Posted on December 17, 2008
PAST and present actors and actresses from an Oxford theatre will be getting together for a reunion before a complete revamp of the venue.
It is the second time the Pegasus Theatre in Magdalen Road has organised a grand reunion, with the first taking place in January – shortly before work was due to start.
Now that the redevelopment is set to start, the theatre is aiming to reunite as many people as possible again, going back to the venue’s beginnings as Oxford Youth Theatre.
Artistic director Euton Daley said: “Roy Copeman and the Oxford Youth Theatre members of the 1960s started something inspirational. Today, we are adding to the legacy by creating a place where young people can come and make, create, learn and share.
“The young people themselves, past and present, have played such an important role in this that a big party is really the only way to celebrate.”
The reunion will be held at the theatre on January 10.
The following week, builders will move in to demolish workshops at the back of the site. Work on the rest of the venue willbegin in May.
As part of the evening, artist Aurelian Koch will be lead sessions aimed at identifying those parts of the buildings which evoke the strongest memories. Features from those areas will then be incorporated into the new building.
Ideas are also being sought for a memorial for Mr Copeman, who founded the Oxford Youth Theatre in 1962.
Monica Crowe, 37, from Iffley, Oxford, first became involved in Pegasus as a 17-year-old, and was among those at January’s reunion. She is also hoping to attend the second get-together.
She said: “The reunion last year was great. It was good to see all the different generations of people who had been involved here, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
“I think they deserve every penny of this money, because Pegasus has created so many shows from those crummy back studios.
“The theatre deserves to have really good facilities.”
The scheme will see the workshops knocked down and replaced. A new rehearsal and dance studio, technical workshops, costume store, dressing rooms, offices, and a cafe bar and an extended foyer will also be built around the theatre’s existing auditorium.
Due to the delay and uncertainty due to the current financial climate, the exact costs are not known.
Tags: 1960s, actors and actresses, artistic director, generations, grand reunion, koch, legacy, memories, money, monica, oxford theatre, pegasus theatre, second time, sessions, venueRelated posts
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