Peter Cheeseman

Peter Cheeseman is a name I probably should have come across whilst doing my degree at Winchester on a module about Verbatim and Documentary theatre ( making theatre from reality, interviews and the 'truth')  but I didn't learn about this person who was so influential to this kind of theatre until I undertook a module with the second year students at Staffordshire University whilst waiting for the MA to start.

Peter Cheeseman is probably the most influential figure in the development of modern documentary theatre, which to me closely links to community theatre. Verbatim and Documentary theatre is the idea of devising a show based on real events, real people, and testimony and interviews about the subject. Probably one of the most famous documentary plays is The Colour of Justice by Richard Norton-Taylor, which is a documentary entirely factual about the Stephen Lawrence enquiry. One of the reasons why Cheeseman is the focal point of the module that they do here is because he developed a substantial amount of work in the area, he also opened the performance centre at the university, and received an honour degree here because of his contribution to the making of British theatre in this area. 



One of the reasons I am so intrigued by Cheeseman is that fact that is credited with having pioneered the idea of 'theatre in the round' which is what the New Vic Theatre is known for. Cheeseman set up the original Victoria Theatre in old cinema in Hartshill in 1962, a theatre in the round which is where the audience watching from all sides of the stage, instead of the typical 'procineamah arch' end on theatre where there is an imaginary fourth wall between actor and audience. In 1986 he masterminded the move to the now well known, purposely built in the round, New Vic Theatre, where I undertake my work placement. I have to say I have never worked 'in the round' before, but the New Vic Theatre is a brilliant space, backstage is like a rabbit warren of props and sets and costumes, and the atmosphere itself on the main stage is astounding, even when watching things in rehearsals stages, and in the grounds there is a separate workspace for community groups, it is very easy to see why Cheeseman was so passionate about this kind of theatre, and why he pioneered the 'theatre in the round', and so became such an influential figure in the theatre world, and in this area in particular.


 Guardian Peter Cheeseman Obituary
Staffordshire University Tribute to Cheeseman 
Making of the New Vic and Cheeseman