1.
Lidcombe
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Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located 18 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the government areas of Cumberland Council. Lidcombe is located west of Rookwood Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere, samuel Haslam owned various grants beside Haslams Creek from 1804. A railway station called Haslams Creek was opened in area in 1859. Haslams Creek is sometimes referred to as Haslems Creek, Haslams Creek was the site of the first railway disaster in New South Wales in July 1858 which resulted in two deaths. When the necropolis opened in 1867 it was known as Haslams Creek Cemetery, residents disliked the association with the burial ground and in 1876 the suburb was renamed Rookwood from a title of a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth. The name of the station was changed to Rookwood in 1878. In 1891, the municipality of Rookwood was incorporated, over time, the necropolis had become known as Rookwood Cemetery and by 1898 residents were again agitated about the association of their suburb with the cemetery. In 1913, a new name was suggested to honour the previous mayor Mr Lidbury, syllables from the name of each alderman were combined to form the name Lidcombe on 1 January 1914. The municipality amalgamated with Auburn local government area in 1949, a large number of post-WWII European migrants, including a large number of Ukrainians, settled in the area of Lidcombe, and built a number of buildings including a church,2 halls and 2 schools. Lidcombe is still the centre of the Ukrainian community in Sydney. The population dynamics changed with the influx of Middle Eastern immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s, the two main streets are John and Joseph, named after the early colonial priest John Joseph Terry. Lidcombe railway station is an important junction station, a railway service from the Mortuary railway station, near Central railway station, once ran to a platform at the nearby Rookwood Cemetery, on the Rookwood Cemetery railway line but has since closed. Sydney Buses runs one route, Transdev NSW runs three routes and NightRide runs three routes via Lidcombe station, for full details of these services see Lidcombe Station. North of the line, Church Street is the site for the St Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church and its presbytery, hall, school and kindergarten. John Street is the site of the Ukrainian Youth Associations Centre, South of the railway line, Joseph Street is the site for the Ukrainian National Hall and the Ukrainian Central School. Nearby is the office of The Free Thought Ukrainian newspaper, Railway Hotel is an Art Deco building in Joseph Street which has a State heritage listing. Lidcombe Hotel, John Street, is heritage-listed Royal Oak Hotel, Railway Street, is heritage-listed The Gables is a home in East Street
2.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
3.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
4.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
5.
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
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Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills is a dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries. The park features such sights as, The Court of Liberty features statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, at 162 feet long and 28 feet high, Birth of Liberty is the largest historical mosaic in the United States. It is composed of ten pieces of Venetian glass and depicts twenty-five scenes from early America. The Old North Church, a replica of Bostons historic church. The historical rooms have documents and mementos of the colonial period, the Hall of Liberty American History Museum has a copy of the Liberty Bell and other exhibits. The museum has a 1, 200-seat auditorium, monument to Washington, a marble and bronze tribute to Americas first president, created by sculptor Thomas Ball. Four of Washingtons generals are honored in the memorial, the Lincoln Terrace features a 16-foot bronze statue of the 16th president by Augustus St. Gaudens, flanked by a panoramic mosaic depicting key scenes from Lincolns life. The Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage has indigenous/non-Christian sculptures by Meliton Salas Rodriguez, of Guadalajara, the first Forest Lawn, in Glendale, was founded in 1906 by businessmen who hired Dr. Hubert Eaton, a firm believer in a joyous life after death. Before it was a cemetery, Forest Lawn was a location used by directors such as Carl Laemmle. The climactic battle scenes for D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation were filmed there. The alternate names of the site are Providencia Flats, Nestor Ranch, Oak Ranch, Oak Crest Ranch, Universal Ranch/Universal City, Lasky Ranch. When Eaton made known his desire to open a second Forest Lawn location in the Hollywood Hills, the local residents protested vehemently. To circumvent the protesters, Mr. Eaton sent his staff to the county morgue to claim 6 John Does, in the morning, the protesters had no power because, by law, the property was now a cemetery. A mausoleum, for crypt or vault interments, a crematory and columbarium, for cinerary interments. A place where six or more bodies are buried. The new mortuary and cemetery opened in 1952, interred or entombed in the Hollywood Hills cemetery are many famous people, particularly from the entertainment industry
6.
The Birds (film)
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The Birds is a 1963 American horror-thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It focuses on a series of sudden and unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, the film stars Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren, in her screen debut, supported by Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. The screenplay is by Evan Hunter, who was told by Hitchcock to develop new characters, in 2016, The Birds was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress, and selected it for preservation in its National Film Registry. Melanie Daniels, a socialite known for rather racy behavior and playing pranks. He wants to purchase a pair of lovebirds for his sisters eleventh birthday and she is infuriated when she discovers this, even though she also likes to play practical jokes. Then, intrigued by his advance, she finds his weekend address in Bodega Bay, purchases a pair of lovebirds. Discovering he is not there, she leaves the birdcage inside the Brenner family home and he spots her on the water through a pair of binoculars during her retreat, and races across the bay to head her off. She is attacked near shore on the side and injured by a seagull. He invites her to dinner, and she hesitantly agrees, Melanie gets to know Mitch, his alternately domineering and needy mother Lydia, and his younger sister Cathy. She also befriends local schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, Mitchs ex-lover, when she spends the night at Annies house they are startled by a loud thud, a gull has killed itself by flying into the front door. At Cathys birthday party the day, the guests are set upon by seagulls. The following evening, sparrows invade the Brenner home through the chimney, the next morning, Lydia, a widow who still sees to the family farmstead, pays a visit to a neighboring farmer to discuss the unusual behavior of her chickens. Finding his eyeless corpse pecked lifeless by birds, she flees in terror, after being comforted by Melanie and Mitch, she expresses concern for Cathys safety at school. Melanie drives there and waits for class to end, unaware that a murder of crows are massing in the nearby playground. Unnerved when she sees its jungle gym covered by them, she warns Annie, the commotion stirs the crows into attacking, injuring several of the children. A young girl is seriously injured after being felled by the crows and she calls on Cathy for help and Melanie pushes them into a parked car, blasting the horn as crows engulf the vehicle. Melanie calls her fathers newspaper from The Tides restaurant, several patrons describe their own encounters with aggressive bird behavior. An amateur ornithologist dismisses the reports as fanciful and argues with Melanie over them, Mitch arrives with the sheriff and corroborates Melanies claims
7.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
8.
Charles Sturt
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Captain Charles Napier Sturt was a British explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide and his expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers, establishing that they all merged into the Murray River. He was searching to determine if there was an inland sea, Charles Sturt was born in Bengal, British India, the eldest son of Thomas Lenox Napier Sturt, a judge under the British East India Company. At the age of five, Charles was sent to relations in England to be educated, an aunt made an appeal to the Prince Regent and, on 9 September 1813, Sturt was gazetted as an ensign with the 39th Regiment of Foot in the British Army. Sturt saw action with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War and against the Americans in Canada, Sturt was gazetted lieutenant on 7 April 1823 and promoted captain on 15 December 1825. With a detachment from his regiment, Sturt escorted convicts aboard the Mariner to New South Wales, Sturt found the conditions and climate in New South Wales much better than he expected and he developed a great interest in the country. The Governor of New South Wales, Sir Ralph Darling, formed an opinion of Sturt and appointed him major of brigade. Sturt became friendly with John Oxley, Allan Cunningham, Hamilton Hume, Sturt was keen to explore the Australian interior, especially its rivers. Sturt received approval from Governor Darling on 4 November 1828 to explore the area of the Macquarie River in western New South Wales and it was not, however, until 10 November that the party started out. It consisted of Sturt, his servant Joseph Harris, three soldiers and eight convicts, on 27 November Sturt was joined by Hamilton Hume as his first assistant, humes experience proved to be very useful. A week was spent at Wellington Valley breaking in oxen and horses, 1828–29 was a period of drought and there was difficulty in getting sufficient water. The courses of the Macquarie, Bogan and Castlereagh rivers had been followed, and though its importance was scarcely sufficiently realized, the party returned to Wellington Valley on 21 April 1829. The expedition proved that northern New South Wales was not an inland sea, in 1829 Governor Darling approved an expedition to solve this mystery. Sturt proposed to travel down the Murrumbidgee River, whose upper reaches had been seen by the Hume, in place of Hume, who was unable to join the party, George Macleay went as a companion rather than as an assistant. A whaleboat built in sections was carried with them which was assembled, in January 1830 Sturts party reached the confluence of the Murrumbidgee and a much larger river, which Sturt named the Murray River. It was in fact the river which Hume and Hovell had crossed further upstream. Several times the party was in danger from the Aborigines but Sturt always succeeded in appeasing them, Sturt then proceeded down the Murray, until he reached the rivers confluence with the Darling. Sturt had now proved that all the western-flowing rivers eventually flowed into the Murray, in February 1830, the party reached a large lake which Sturt called Lake Alexandrina
9.
Outback
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The Outback is the vast, remote interior of Australia. Culturally, the Outback is deeply ingrained in Australian heritage, history, early European exploration of inland Australia was sporadic. More focus was on the more accessible and fertile coastal areas, the first party to successfully cross the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney was led by Gregory Blaxland in 1813,25 years after the colony was established. This contrasts with the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61 which was better funded. The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart, mineral exploration continues as new mineral deposits are identified and developed. While the early explorers used horses to cross the outback, the first woman to make the riding a horse was Anna Hingley. The paucity of land use has led to the Outback being recognised globally as one of the largest remaining. The savanna of northern Australia are the largest, intact savanna regions in the world, in the south, the Great Western Woodlands, which occupy 16,000,000 hectares, an area larger than all of England, are the largest remaining temperate woodland left on Earth. Reflecting the wide climatic and geological variation, the Outback contains a wealth of distinctive, the Australian Outback is full of very important well-adapted wildlife, although much of it may not be immediately visible to the casual observer. Many animals, such as red kangaroos and dingoes, hide in bushes to rest, birdlife is prolific, most often seen at waterholes at dawn and dusk. Huge flocks of budgerigars, cockatoos, corellas and galahs are often sighted, on bare ground or roads during the winter, various species of snakes and lizards bask in the sun, but they are rarely seen during the summer months. Feral animals such as camels thrive in central Australia, brought to Australia by pastoralists and explorers, feral horses known as brumbies are station horses that have run wild. Feral pigs, foxes, cats and rabbits are other imported animals that also degrade the environment, so time, the Outback is home to a diverse set of animal species, such as the kangaroo, emu and dingo. The Dingo Fence was built to restrict dingo movements into agricultural areas towards the south east of the continent, the marginally fertile parts are primarily utilised as rangelands and have been traditionally used for sheep or cattle grazing, on cattle stations which are leased from the Federal Government. While small areas of the outback consist of soils the majority has exceedingly infertile palaeosols. Riversleigh, in Queensland, is one of Australias most renowned fossil sites and was recorded as a World Heritage site in 1994, the 100 km2 area contains fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age. The largest industry across the Outback, in terms of the occupied, is pastoralism, in which cattle, sheep. Capitalizing on the lack of improvement and absence of fertiliser and pesticide use
10.
Laurence Olivier
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Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles, late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no connections, but Oliviers father, a clergyman. After attending a school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Cowards Private Lives, in 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, there his most celebrated roles included Shakespeares Richard III and Sophocless Oedipus. From 1963 to 1973 he was the director of Britains National Theatre. His own parts there included the role in Othello and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Among Oliviers films are Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director, Henry V, Hamlet and his later films included Sleuth, Marathon Man, and The Boys from Brazil. His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence, Long Days Journey into Night, Love Among the Ruins, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brideshead Revisited, Oliviers honours included a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit. For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatres largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, the youngest of the three children of the Revd Gerard Kerr Olivier and his wife Agnes Louise, née Crookenden. Their elder children were Sybille and Gerard Dacres Dickie and his great-great-grandfather was of French Huguenot descent, and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen. Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster, but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England and he practised extremely high church, ritualist Anglicanism and liked to be addressed as Father Olivier. This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations, and the church posts he was offered were temporary. This meant a nomadic existence, and for Laurences first few years, in 1912, when Olivier was five, his father secured a permanent appointment as assistant priest at St Saviours, Pimlico. He held the post for six years, and a family life was at last possible
11.
The Old Vic
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The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre, in 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, in 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened. It was also the name of a company that was based at the theatre and formed the core of the National Theatre of Great Britain on its formation in 1963. The National Theatre remained at the Old Vic until new premises were constructed on the South Bank, the Old Vic then became the home of Prospect Theatre Company, at that time a highly successful touring company which staged such acclaimed productions as Derek Jacobis Hamlet. However, with the withdrawal of funding for the company by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1980 for breaching its touring obligations, the theatre underwent complete refurbishment in 1985. In 2003, Kevin Spacey was appointed as new director of the Old Vic Theatre Company which received considerable media attention. In 2015, Matthew Warchus succeeded Spacey as artistic director, the theatre was a minor theatre and was thus technically forbidden to show serious drama. Nevertheless, when the theatre passed to George Bolwell Davidge in 1824 he succeeded in bringing legendary actor Edmund Kean south of the river to play six Shakespeare plays in six nights. More popular staples in the repertoire were sensational and violent melodramas demonstrating the evils of drink, churned out by the house dramatist, confirmed teetotaller Douglas Jerrold. On 1 July 1833, the theatre was renamed the Royal Victoria Theatre, under the protection and patronage of Victoria, Duchess of Kent, mother to Princess Victoria, the 14-year-old heir presumptive. The duchess and the princess visited only once, on 28 November of that year, the single visit scarcely justified the Old Vic its later billing as Queen Victorias Own Theayter. By 1835, the theatre was advertising itself simply as the Victoria Theatre, in 1841, David Osbaldiston took over as lessee, succeeded on his death in 1850 by his lover and the theatres leading lady, Eliza Vincent, until her death in 1856. Under their management, the theatre remained devoted to melodrama, in 1867, Joseph Arnold Cave took over as lessee. In 1871 he transferred the lease to Romaine Delatorre, who raised funds for the theatre to be rebuilt in the style of the Alhambra Music Hall, jethro Thomas Robinson was engaged as the architect. In September 1871 the old theatre closed, and the new building opened as the Royal Victoria Palace in December of the same year, by 1873, however, Cave had left and Delatorres venture failed. The penny lectures given in the led to the foundation of Morley College, an adult education college
12.
Richard III (play)
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Richard III is a historical play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1592. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England, the play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified as such. Occasionally, however, as in the edition, it is termed a tragedy. Richard III concludes Shakespeares first tetralogy and it is the second longest play in the canon after Hamlet, and is the longest of the First Folio, whose version of Hamlet is shorter than its Quarto counterpart. The play is rarely performed unabridged, often, certain characters are removed entirely. In such instances extra lines are often invented or added from elsewhere in the sequence to establish the nature of characters relationships. Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York, Richard is an ugly hunchback who is rudely stampd, deformed, unfinishd, and cannot strut before a wanton ambling nymph. He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcasts credo, Richard now schemes to woo the Lady Anne – Anne Neville, widow of the Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. He confides to the audience, Ill marry Warwicks youngest daughter, what, though I killd her husband and her father. The scene then changes to reveal Lady Anne accompanying the corpse of the late king Henry VI, along with Trestle and Berkeley, on its way to be interred at St Pauls cathedral. She asks them to set down the honourable load – if honour may be shrouded in a hearse, Richard suddenly appears and demands that the unmannerd dog carrying the hearse set it down, at which point a brief verbal wrangling takes place. Despite initially hating him, Anne is won over by his pleas of love and repentance, when she leaves, Richard exults in having won her over despite all he has done to her, and tells the audience that he will discard her once she has served her purpose. The atmosphere at court is poisonous, The established nobles are at odds with the upwardly mobile relatives of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Margaret, Henry VIs widow, returns in defiance of her banishment and warns the squabbling nobles about Richard. Queen Margaret curses Richard and the rest who were present, the nobles, all Yorkists, reflexively unite against this last Lancastrian, and the warning falls on deaf ears. Richard orders two murderers to kill Clarence in the tower, Clarence, meanwhile, relates a dream to his keeper. The dream includes vivid language describing Clarence falling from a ship as a result of Gloucester. Under the water Clarence sees the skeletons of thousands of men that fishes gnawed upon and he also sees wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable stones, unvalued jewels. All of these are scatterd in the bottom of the sea, Clarence adds that some of the jewels were in the skulls of the dead
