The Rose Theatre, Kingston began as an idea in 1986 by local Councillors and residents of Kingston. The shell of the Rose was built by St George PLC as part of a planning agreement with the Royal Borough of Kingston for the Charter Quay residential and commercial development. The agreement did not include the completion / fit out of the venue. The architects Blundell, Thompson and Hargreaves were appointed in 2004 to further develop the original designs for the venue.
Sir Peter Hall became the Director of the Rose in 2003 and developed the vision for the theatre, which included an ambition for a resident ensemble repertoire theatre company. Peter Hall directed a short season in the unfinished auditorium in 2004 which included As You Like It. This season, billed as the ‘In the Raw' season, also included productions of Henry V and A Woman Killed with Kindness presented by Northern Broadsides, and a community play Don Juan in Kingston.
The completed Rose Theatre, Kingston opened its doors for the first time to the public on 16 January 2008 with a new production of Uncle Vanya, directed by Peter Hall, presented by English Touring Theatre and with a cast that included Nicholas Le Prevost, Neil Pearson and Ronald Pickup.
Stephen Unwin, former director of English Touring Theatre, took up the role of Artistic Director in 2008, and Peter Hall became Director Emeritus. David Jacobs, former Chair of the Board of Trustees to the Kingston Theatre Trust, was appointed Life President in 2008.
The auditorium of the Rose takes its inspiration from the original Elizabethan bankside playhouse of the same name. Seating in horse-shoe shape across three levels half surrounds a lozenge shaped stage, with cushion seats in front, creating a wonderful intimacy between audience and actors.
The initial ‘exploratory' season at the Rose saw renowned national touring companies presenting week-long productions, which included English Touring Theatre's Uncle Vanya, Tara Arts' production of The Tempest, the UK tour premiere of Blackbird, the Birmingham Stage Company production of George's Marvellous Medicine, Northern Broadsides' Romeo and Juliet, Molora presented by Oxford Playhouse, and a new version of Moliere's Tartuffe presented by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. Headlong Theatre's The English Game, and a new version of Sophocles' Antigone, The Burial at Thebes, presented by Nottingham Playhouse, ended the initial season in June 2008. A series of one night events, including an ongoing monthly residency from The Comedy Store, and other comedy, music and dance events was also hosted over the initial 6 month period.
From 26 August - 11 October 2008, the Rose hosted a residency from Theatre Royal Bath & The Peter Hall Company, who presented three consecutive productions, The Portrait of a Lady, A Doll's House and Born in the Gardens. This season was immediately followed by the Rose's first home-grown production, Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Peter Hall, with a cast including Peter Bowles, Dan Fredenburgh and Finbar Lynch. This ran from 21 October until 15 November. The second Rose home-grown production, A Christmas Carol, ran from 2 December 2008 to 3 January 2009. The third in-house Rose production, and the first Rose production to embark on a seven week national tour, was a revival of Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy, directed by Stephen Unwin, which ran from 7-30 May 2009.
The Rose produced three more shows in 2009, in its first repertory season - Miss Julie by Strindberg, directed by Stephen Unwin, and Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, directed by Peter Hall. Both were performed by members of the same company, and ran from 1 October - 28 November. In Christmas 2009, the Rose produced its second family show, Treasure Island, adapted by Karen Louise Hebden.
The Rose had an enormous success with its seventh home-grown production for 2010: Judi Dench in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by Peter Hall. This production was not seen anywhere else following the run at the Rose.
Photo from Love's Labour's Lost below by Nobby Clark
