Annie Horniman Annie Horniman Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman CH (3 October 1860 – 6 August 1937) was an English theatre patron and manager. She established the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and founded the first regional repertory theatre company in Britain at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester. She encouraged the work of new writers and playwrights, including W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and members of what became known as the Manchester School of dramatists. Annie Horniman was born at Surrey Mount, Forest Hill, London, in 1860, the elder child of Frederick John Horniman and his first wife Rebekah née Elmslie. Her father
Festival Theatre, Malvern the arts in the town. Funding was raised by a company dedicated to building the theatre, and 200 shares amounting to £5 each were allotted. The foundation stone of the assembly rooms of the theatre was laid down by the Earl Beauchamp on 6 July 1884, attended by Jenny Lind, Lady Emily Foley and Dr. W. T. Fernie. The theatre was inaugurated on 1 July 1885. The Festival Theatre of Malvern became known for its George Bernard Shaw productions in the 1930s. Michael W. Pharand considers the friendship and artistic relationship between Bernard Shaw and Barry Vincent Jackson to have