Theatre of the United Kingdom rise of satire in 1960s Britain. The Chichester Festival Theatre was Britain's first modern thrust stage theatre. It was inspired by the Festival Theatre of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival launched by Tyrone Guthrie in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario. The inaugural Artistic Director of the Chichester Festival was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the National Theatre's base at the Old Vic in London. The Theatres Act 1968 abolished the system of censorship of the stage that had existed in Great Britain since 1737.
The Playhouse Theatre (Perth) terms as artistic director between 1963-1984. A rare period of box-office success was enjoyed by the theatre from 1978-1981 when Stephen Barry was artistic director of the National Theatre at the Playhouse. He arranged outstanding guest performances by international celebrities Warren Mitchell, Honor Blackman, Robyn Nevin, Timothy West, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Judy Davis, among others. Barry commissioned Dorothy Hewett's play, "The Man from Muckinupin", for the State's sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary celebrations in 1979 (WAY '79), despite hostile resistance from then state premier Sir Charles Court. However, soon after Barry's departure, the company lost its audience appeal. Despite an extensive renovation