The grand opening of the Howard Theatre
On Wednesday 3 March 2010 Sir Trevor Nunn the internationally acclaimed theatre Director was the guest of honour at the official opening of Cambridge's newest theatre.
The Howard Theatre in Downing College is a brand new 160-seat performance and conference space. Equipped with state of the art technical stage facilities it has been designed, built and decorated in the neo-classical style inherant in Downing's collection of buildings.
Inside the theatre the decorative trompe l'oeil artwork covering the ceiling evokes the spirit of Georgian theatre while the front-of-house curtain shows a Grecian street scene, portraying the College among images of classical Greek architecture such as the Acropolis.
It was a magical evening that began with speeches from Professor Barry Everitt, Master of Downing College, Dr Alan Howard and Sir Trevor Nunn who declared the Theatre officially open. Next the invited audience were treated to a spectacular performance of music, drama and dance entitled 'All the World 's a Stage' from undergraduate students at Downing and the College Chapel Choir.
This was followed by a Champagne Reception in the Grace Howard Room on the ground floor of the Theatre. Guests were then escorted to the grand College Hall for a three course celebration dinner of a home smoked Duck Breast starter followed by a main course of Sea Bass with Olive Oli Mash, sauteed Squid and Chorizo and a dessert of Rhubarb and Almond Tart.
The speeches and the performance in the Theatre were filmed by the University of Cambridge Varsity students and this is available to view on Downing's Facebook page.
Additional Notes
Sir Trevor Nunn was an undergraduate at Downing between 1959 and 1962, reading English. He began his stage career while at the College and has gone on to become one of the leading figures in British Theatre, as Artistic Director of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and then the Royal National Theatre.
Dr Alan Howard came to Downing in 1948 and read Natural Sciences. He attended the opening along with his son, Dr Jonathan Howard, who read Law at Downing. Alan's career at Cambridge University spans 60 years and he has held positions in the Department of Investigative Medicine and Pathology as well as the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory before founding his own laboratory at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge which was closed in 1999. His work on obesity led to the development of Very Low Calorie Diets, leading to a number of commercial products including his own formulation of the Cambridge Diet, which is still be used by millions of people worldwide.
In 1982 he established the Howard Foundation, a charitable trust supporting bio-medical research at the University of Cambridge and which has donated the funds to build the four buildings at Downing College.
Architects Francis and Quinlan Terry have a long association with Downing. In addition to the theatre, they designed three other buildings for the College, the Maitland Robinson Library (1990-92), the Howard Building (1985-89), and Howard Lodge (1992-96). Francis Terry read Architecture at Downing in the late 80's.