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27-469: In the early 1960s, Stephen Joseph was searching for a permanent base for his Studio Theatre company which specialised in theatrical productions in the round . He found it in a disused cinema in Hartshill which was converted for theatrical use and opened as a playhouse on 9 October 1962. The first resident director was Peter Cheeseman who remained in control for 36 years, bar a period in 1967–68 when he

54-539: A capacity of just over 600, with the audience surrounding a central stage as before. The musical acoustics are good and the Lindsay String Quartet performed there regularly, as they had done at the old theatre. The New Vic continues to keep close to its Potteries roots. One of the plays in its re-opening season was by local playwright Arthur Berry . In 2023, the theatre showed a production of Arnold Bennett 's The Card , whose Artistic Director

81-766: A disused cinema in Hartshill , Stoke-on-Trent , which became the Victoria Theatre, with Peter Cheeseman in charge. Meanwhile, Joseph was appointed as fellow, and subsequently lecturer in the Department of Drama at the University of Manchester . He refounded the theatre in Scarborough as the Scarborough Theatre Trust, which by 1967 was beginning to be successful with the assistance of new playwrights such as Alan Ayckbourn . His work

108-496: A mile (1,600 m) long, with wardens in season, and an area of sea zoned for swimming , sailing and windsurfing . The shore is lined by a promenade with several hundred beach huts . Landward from the promenade is a long greensward, popular with young and old alike, stretching from the boundary with Walton-on-Naze to the golf club in the south. Six miles offshore lies Gunfleet Lighthouse , constructed in 1850 but abandoned in 1921. There are two Anglican parish churches: St Mary

135-608: A pier, stipulated the quality of housing to be built and prohibited boarding houses and pubs. The Sea Defence Act 1903 established a project to stabilise the cliffs, with the Greensward, which separates the Esplanade from the sea, put in place to stabilise the land further. In the first half of the 20th century the town attracted visitors from high society. Connaught Avenue, named after the Duke of Connaught and opened by his wife,

162-574: A production by Jack Mitchley of the Christopher Fry play A Phoenix too Frequent , staged in the round, which caused him to experience "a bee beginning to buzz at the back of my mind". He returned to the Central School of Speech and Drama as a tutor, then in 1951 was granted leave of absence to study for a degree in playwriting at the University of Iowa . On his return he set up a company, Studio Theatre Ltd , devoted to productions in

189-519: Is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Frientuna . The name may mean 'fenced-in or enclosed town or settlement'. Until late Victorian times , Frinton-on-Sea was a church, several farms and a handful of cottages. In the 1890s, the original developer of the town, Peter Bruff , was bought out by the industrialist Richard Powell Cooper , who had already laid out the golf course. Powell Cooper rejected Bruff's plans for

216-840: Is served by the local newspaper, Clacton and Frinton Gazette which publishes on Thursdays. Frinton is home to the Frinton Summer Theatre Season at the McGrigor Hall every summer. Started in 1937, by the Cambridge Academic T. P. Hoar as an amusement whilst he studied corrosion, it quickly developed a life of its own, employing many later famous actors at the start of their career. Michael Denison , Vanessa Redgrave , Timothy West , Jane Asher , David Suchet , Gary Oldman , Owen Teale , Lynda Bellingham , Jack Klaff , Antony Sher and Neil Dudgeon all started their careers at Frinton. For many years it

243-579: The Association of British Theatre Technicians , and in 1964 the Society of Theatre Consultants. He wrote the following books: Frinton-on-Sea Frinton-on-Sea is a seaside town and (as just Frinton ) a former civil parish , now in the parish of Frinton and Walton , in the Tendring district of Essex , England. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 4,837. The place-name 'Frinton'

270-465: The 1920s. There is also a Methodist church , and a Free church . Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia . Television signals are received from the Sudbury TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Essex on 103.5 FM, Heart East on 96.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio East (formerly Dream 100 FM ) on 100.2 FM and Actual Radio an DAB station. The town

297-655: The Virgin is Norman in parts. The church of St Mary Magdalene was built in 1928 to accommodate worshippers from St Mary the Virgin. Across the road from St Mary Magadalene is the Evangelical Gospel Chapel. Frinton's Catholic church , the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Francis, was built in 1904, as a public hall known as Queen's Hall; the architect was William Hayne. It was acquired as a church in

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324-618: The World’s worst actor. Stephen Joseph died aged 46, on Wednesday 4 October 1967, at his home in Scarborough. He had been working until the last. His legacy and name live on though in the theatres he created, the Stephen Joseph Theatre and the New Vic Theatre, and also through the playwrights he encouraged and inspired such as Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter , James Saunders and Alan Plater . In 1961 he helped to found

351-591: The gates' is well sought after. Frinton was used in a recent Subway Sandwiches commercial for the UK, although the advert was not actually filmed in Frinton. In Season 1 Episode 2 of the television series Minder Terry says in response to Arthur swearing on his mother's grave that he knows for a fact his mother is alive and well and living in Frinton. The actor Ross Davidson was living in Frinton-on-Sea at

378-497: The parish had a population of 2196. Frinton has three points of entry by road: an unadopted road from Walton-on-the-Naze in the north, a residential road, and a CCTV monitored level crossing adjacent to the railway station which replaced the older gated crossing in 2009. Frinton was once geographically distinct, but housing estates now line the roads between Frinton and Walton-on-the-Naze, Kirby Cross and Kirby-Le-Soken. The town has sandy and stone beach washed daily, more than

405-591: The round. After many difficulties and frustrations in finding suitable venues in London, a chance meeting led in 1955 to his using the concert room in the Central Library at Scarborough , on the Yorkshire coast. Initially the company did a summer season in Scarborough, and in winter toured other towns, partly with a view to finding a more permanent home for the company. This succeeded in 1962, when they found

432-521: The time of his death in October 2006. T.E.B. Clarke , novelist and writer of several Ealing comedies, including Passport To Pimlico and The Lavender Hill Mob , lived there as a child. Disc jockeys Mike Read , Adrian John and David Hamilton lived in the town whilst broadcasting on Big L . Richard Cobb (1917 - 1996), Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, was born in

459-643: The town. In the 1920s and 1930s Turret Lodge on the Esplanade was owned by Fritz Dupre , the "manganese ore king", for use as his family's holiday home. The late Group Captain Alfred 'Ken' Gatward , who flew a mission to occupied Paris during the Second World War to drop a French Tricolour on the Arc de Triomphe , lived in the town. Actress Deborah Watling , best known for her role in Doctor Who as

486-418: The very start, and this was created in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme and opened its doors in 1986 after many years of fundraising, negotiation with local councils and construction. The new venue took the name The New Victoria Theatre, often abbreviated to "New Vic", and this shortened name was formally adopted later. Whereas the old theatre had a seating capacity of 389, the main auditorium in the new theatre has

513-656: The war he studied English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge , leading to the award of an MA degree. While at Cambridge he joined Footlights and both wrote and directed La Vie Cambridgienne , a revue broadcast by the BBC in July 1948. In November 1948 he joined the Lowestoft Repertory Theatre as director, then moved on to manage the Summer Theatre season at Frinton-on-Sea . While there he saw

540-611: Was Conrad Nelson , (who had earlier premiered the play with the Claybody Theatre in Fenton , one of Stoke-on-Trent's six towns). In 1998, Peter Cheeseman retired as Artistic Director, and was succeeded by Gwenda Hughes. In 2007, she was succeeded by current Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins. 53°00′58″N 2°12′52″W  /  53.0161°N 2.2145°W  / 53.0161; -2.2145 Stephen Joseph Stephen Joseph (13 June 1921 – 4 October 1967)

567-746: Was an English stage director. Stephen Joseph was born in London , the child of actress Hermione Gingold and the publisher Michael Joseph . He was educated at Clayesmore School in Dorset. At the age of 16 he became a student of the Central School of Speech and Drama , where he graduated two years later. From 1941 to 1946 he served as an officer in the Royal Navy , where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . After

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594-912: Was brought to an untimely end, however, by his death in Scarborough from cancer in 1967. The Scarborough Theatre developed and became the Stephen Joseph Theatre . The Victoria Theatre in Stoke eventually relocated and became the New Vic Theatre . The Stephen Joseph Studio in Manchester is named in his honour. Alan Ayckbourn wrote He knew more than any person I’ve ever known about playwriting, when it came to talking about it, and he knew more about directing than any living person, and I suspect he knew an awful lot about acting: he certainly managed to talk about it very lucidly and entertainingly and interestingly, although he must have been

621-482: Was in a Labour constituency from 1997 to 2005 ). Until recently, there were no pubs, although there have long been bars in seafront hotels and at the golf and War Memorial clubs. The first pub, the Lock and Barrel, opened in 2000. An electoral ward in the name of Frinton exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,002. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished to form "Frinton and Walton". In 1931

648-531: Was nicknamed East Anglia's Bond Street . Other attractions included a lido, complete with palm trees, hotels along the Esplanade, and an amateur tennis tournament. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) frequented the golf club and Winston Churchill rented a house. Frinton was the last target in England attacked by the Luftwaffe , in 1944. The town has a reputation for a conservative nature (although it

675-640: Was run by the British actor Jack Watling , and his son Giles and son-in-law Seymour Matthews. His daughters Debbie and Dilys often appeared on stage, as did 'Allo 'Allo! cast member John D. Collins . It is now run by Clive Brill. Frinton's population of retirees makes it the butt of jokes, with the LNER advertising slogan " Harwich for the Continent" being appended "Frinton for the incontinent". However, its genteel nature has ensured that property 'within

702-515: Was temporarily replaced by the management. The company soon established a reputation for innovative productions of both new and classic works. A particular focus was on plays with a local subject, such as The Knotty , about the North Staffordshire Railway , The Fight for Shelton Bar , about the closure of a local steelworks, and Jolly Potters . The first production of a play by Peter Terson took place there in 1964; he

729-492: Was writer in residence for 18 months and wrote 22 plays for the Victoria. As well as drama, the venue was also used for classical and other music. The square layout of the performance area and audience created an excellent acoustic for chamber music. The Lindsay String Quartet performed there regularly in the 1970s. By 1985, over 280 productions had been staged. The need had been felt for a larger, purpose-built building from

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