Joan Littlewood
Person
Born
Company founder. Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop moved into the run-down Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1953, cleaning and repairing it themselves, and turned it into the home of Oh, What a Lovely War! and A Taste of Honey. Her later Fun Palace idea of a free, open arts space for everyone still inspires an annual community festival. The Theatre Royal is still producing work in east London, with a statue of her outside.
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