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25-915: Other intermediate locations of the theatre include the Arts Theatre and the St John's Wood private residence of a member, Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley). Overwhelmed by debt, the theatre closed in 2002, although the Players' Theatre Club continues to perform music hall shows in other venues. Appearing at the Players' Theatre were Leonard Sachs (who was often the chairman), Patricia Hayes , Hattie Jacques , James Robertson Justice , Peter Ustinov , Clive Dunn , Ian Carmichael , Joan Sterndale-Bennett , Vida Hope and Denis Martin , who eventually became Director of Production. In 1967, Decca Records issued an LP, A Night of Music Hall , from The Players' Theatre, (London's Victorian Theatre) with 19 songs and duets encompassing

50-558: A 60-capacity studio theatre 'Above the Arts'. Ronald Adam (actor) Ronald George Hinings Adams , OBE (31 December 1896 – 28 March 1979), known professionally as Ronald Adam , was a British officer of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force , an actor on stage and screen, and a successful theatre manager. Adam was born in Bromyard , Herefordshire , on 31 December 1896,

75-1011: A German bomber chief in The Lion Has Wings (1939), as Mons. Besnard in At the Villa Rose (1940) and as Sir Charles Fawcett in The Foreman Went to France (1942). Adam was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946. After 1946, he continued to act in live theatre. At the Garrick in March 1950, he played Mr. Gibb in Mr. Gillie . He made his Broadway debut in December 1951 in Antony and Cleopatra at

100-523: A consortium of UK and US producers in 2000 for a five-year period, and it was relaunched as a West End theatre with the anniversary production of Julian Mitchell 's play Another Country , directed by Stephen Henry . Notable productions during this time included Closer to Heaven , the Jonathan Harvey / Pet Shop Boys musical, and The Vagina Monologues . In 2011, the theatre was taken over by JJ Goodman and led by Artistic Director Mig Kimpton under

125-457: A diverse range of new and experimental plays, or plays that were thought to be commercially non-viable on the West End. The theatrical producer Norman Marshall referred to these as 'The Other Theatre' in his 1947 book of the same name. The theatre opened with a revue by Herbert Farjeon entitled Picnic , produced by Harold Scott and with music by Beverley Nichols . Its first important production

150-563: A fighter controller. He married firstly Tanzi Cutava Barozzi; the marriage was dissolved. His second wife was Allyne Dorothy Franks. He had two children, Jane and David. After the Second World War Ronald Adam lived in Surbiton , Surrey , and died on 28 March 1979. Adam was part-adaptor of Professor Bernhardi and The Melody That Got Lost , among other works. He was the author of the plays An English Summer (1948), A Wind on

175-699: A gypsy in Listen to the Wind at the Arts Theatre in 1955. In August 1955, aged 24, Hall directed the English-language premiere of Samuel Beckett 's Waiting for Godot at the theatre. This was an important turning point in modern theatre for Britain. Subsequently, from 1956 to 1959, Hall ran the Arts Theatre. Between April 1962 and January 1967 the Arts Theatre was known as the New Arts Theatre. From 1967 to 1999

200-454: A typical evening at the Players, chaired by Don Gemell. The recorded artists were Stella Moray , Maurice Browning , Margaret Burton, Patsy Rowlands , Hattie Jacques, John Rutland , Joan Sterndale Bennett, Josephine Gordon, Robin Hunter , Daphne Anderson , Clive Dunn and Bill Owen , with Peter Greenwell and Geoffrey Brawn (piano). At the time of the recording the membership of the theatre club

225-717: Is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster , Central London . It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office. It was one of a small number of committed, independent theatre companies, including the Hampstead Everyman , the Gate Theatre Studio and the Q Theatre , which took risks by producing

250-743: The Museum of Comedy , the Royal Oak pub in Tabard Street and the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly . The theatre at Villers Street was later refurbished and is now the Charing Cross Theatre . Notes Bibliography Additional Reading 51°30′29″N 0°07′27″W  /  51.508099°N 0.124134°W  / 51.508099; -0.124134 Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre

275-558: The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and served as an observer with No. 18 Squadron in France, before returning home to re-train as a pilot. Once qualified as a pilot, Adams remained in Britain and flew Sopwith Camels with No. 44 Squadron on home defence duties. The squadron was based at Hainault Farm aerodrome in Essex and was pioneering the use of night-fighters against Zeppelin raids on London . He

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300-764: The Ziegfeld Theatre . In 1954, he featured in William Douglas Home 's comedy The Manor of Northstead in the West End . His main activity at this stage, however, was in film and television. From 1946 to 1978, he took part in over 140 film or television productions. He portrayed the Group Controller in Angels One Five , a 1952 British war film about the Battle of Britain . Adam reprised his actual wartime role as

325-504: The Arts also became a home for the Unicorn children's theatre, under the direction of its founder Caryl Jenner . She took over the lease, initially for six years. Meanwhile, adult performances continued in the evening, including Tom Stoppard 's satirical double-bill Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land which, opening in June 1976, ran for four years at the Arts. The theatre's lease was taken over by

350-808: The Embassy and on their transfer. He made his film debut with Strange Boarders , The Drum (both 1938) and Too Dangerous to Live (1939). Meanwhile, he continued with live theatre. At the Old Vic in June 1939, he played Lord Stagmantle in The Ascent of F6 and at the Phoenix in November 1939, Judge Tsankov in Judgment Day . He was director of Howard and Wyndham 's Repertory Seasons in Edinburgh and Glasgow , 1938–39. On

375-415: The business management of Louis Hartshorn. The Arts now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house , seating a maximum of 350 in a two-tier basement auditorium. In 2014, Louis Hartshorn took over from Mig Kimpton as Executive Director and alongside long standing business partner Brian Hook as Producer. Expanding over an additional floor the Arts Theatre now houses two rehearsal rooms and

400-691: The outbreak of the Second World War , Adam rejoined the RAF as a pilot officer , eventually rising to the rank of wing commander and served from 1939 to 1945. During the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, he was a Fighter Controller for the Hornchurch sector. It was Adam's job to co-ordinate the fighter command interceptions by using data gathered by radar and ground observers and then to dispatch fighters to intercept. There exists brief film footage of him in this role and can often be seen in documentaries on

425-618: The son of Blake Adams and his wife Mona Robin. His parents and grandparents were all in the theatrical profession. He was educated at University College School . When still only 17 years old, Adams volunteered to join the British Army on the outbreak of the First World War . On 2 December 1914, he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the 15th (Reserve) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment . Adams soon transferred to

450-765: The stage name "Ronald Adam". From 1924 to 1926, he was engaged as manager for Leslie Henson and Dion Titheradge , and at the Little , His Majesty's , and Strand theatres. He entered on the management of the Embassy Theatre , in April 1932, with the production of Madame Pepita , and made over 150 new productions and revivals from 1932 to 1939. Thirty of his productions were transferred to various West End theatres , including Ten Minute Alibi , Close Quarters , The Dominant Sex , Professor Bernhardi and Judgment Day . He presented several plays on tour, and acted in many of them, both at

475-471: The theatre on a sound financial footing. Ronnie Barker made his West End début at the production of Mourning Becomes Electra at the Arts Theatre in 1955 which was directed by Sir Peter Hall , with whom Barker had worked at the Oxford Playhouse . Barker remained a West End actor for some years, appearing in numerous plays between 1955 and 1968. These included two performances each night as he played

500-411: The theatre, choreographed by Andrée Howard . It has subsequently been performed over 200 times by The Royal Ballet, and by Scottish Ballet. In 1942, Alec Clunes and John Hanau took over the running of the theatre and for ten years produced a wide range of plays, winning a reputation as a 'pocket national theatre'. In 1946, Clunes teamed with author Peter Elstob to raise £20,000, which eventually put

525-484: The war in the air. Jeffrey Quill , the distinguished Spitfire test pilot on attachment to 65 Squadron at Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain, wrote of Adam: "Apart from being highly competent at the actual job, his voice had a quality of calm and unhesitating certainty. The contribution of such men to the outcome of the Battle of Britain was incalculable." During the war, he continued to take part in films, for example as

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550-574: Was Young Woodley by John Van Druten , staged in 1928, which later transferred to the Savoy Theatre when the Lord Chamberlain's ban was lifted. In 1938, a four-week revival of the Stokes brothers' Oscar Wilde , starring Francis L. Sullivan and produced by Ronald Adam , opened on 25 October. This coincided with a Broadway production of the play. In 1940 the ballet La fête étrange was staged at

575-405: Was badly wounded in the engagement and on the evening of his capture he was visited by a German orderly who passed on the compliments of von Richthofen. Adams spent eight months in hospitals and prison camps before he was repatriated on 17 December 1918. After the war, he trained as a chartered accountant , but his interest moved to theatre. He dropped the final "s" from his surname and adopted

600-418: Was over 5,000. The name of the nightly show was Late Joys which derived from a hotel on the site of the building at 43 King Street: "Evans – Late Joy's", Joy having been the owner of the song and supper room before a comedian from Covent Garden, Evans, took over. Following the closure of the theatre, the Players' Theatre Club continues to perform music hall shows throughout the year in other venues such as

625-709: Was then posted back to France , still on Sopwith Camels, to No. 73 Squadron , at Champien . On 1 April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps amalgamated with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to become the Royal Air Force (RAF), but Adams had barely had time to get used to the new title before he was shot down, on 7 April 1918, near Villers-Bretonneux in Northern France , either by Hans Kirschstein , or possibly Manfred von Richthofen and captured . Adams

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