Cyril Livingstone

Cyril Livingstone (1921–2011) was a Leeds based theatre director, actor, critic and couturier.[1]

Early life

Cyril Livingstone was born on March 28th 1921, he was the youngest of three brothers born to Joseph and Bertha Livingstone.[2]

Family Salon

Livingstone's family owned a clothing shop, after the second world war he joined his family business. The salon was located North street, then later moved to Albion,[3] attracted a lot of the stylish people of Leeds and played an integral part in the Leeds fashion scene at the time.[4] In an interview with the Yorkshire Evening post Cyril Livingstone's friend and colleague John Fisher, stated that people would flock to Cyril's shop in order to but the latest haute couture fashion; with clients often asking for Cyril's opinion on what would suite them. This sparked his love of design, which he would then use later on for stage productions.[5]

Theatre career

After WW2 in 1948, Cyril Livingstone co founded the amateur Jewish acting group the Proscenium Players. The players first play they performed was An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestley.[6] He became their lead actor and enjoyed playing sinister and menacing characters. In the 1950s he starred in numerous Harry Hanson plays for his company the Court Players. He often performed at the Leeds Royal Theatre which is no longer in existence and was invited to perform at the 1960s York Festival. He was cast as Caiaphas in the festival's production of York Cycle of Mystery Plays.

In addition to directing and acting he was also a sketch writer for Leeds University Rag Revue at Leeds Empire.[2] In the 1950s Livingstone began to write theatrical pieces and began reviewing work at Leeds Civic Theatre. Notably, he reviewed Peter O'Toole's play A Month in the Country. Livingstone was not a fan of the play in his critic and Peter O'Toole never spoke to him again.[7] Additionally, he worked on and designed sets for plays that were on around Leeds. He designed the set for The Dybbuk.[6] In 1959 Cyril Livingstone directed The Diary of Anne Frank. He played a part in the beginning of Frankie Vaughan's career.

Cyril died aged 90 on the 31st of March 2011.

Legacy

Cyril's legacy, memories and work was commemorated with a rainbow plaque at Hotel Chocolat in Leeds[8] to remember his contributions to the LGBT+ community and Leeds Culture.

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gollark: And yet.
gollark: I'm not sure why it does that.
gollark: Pedantry may be reinitialized at any time.
gollark: You have had your 3 apiominutes.

References
  1. "Cyril Livingstone". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  2. "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. Halton, Keith. "Albion Place, looking towards Briggate and King Edward Street". www.leodis.net. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  4. John. "Remembrance of Times Past – A Student at Leeds | John Murphy". Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  5. "Amateur Stage May 2011". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  6. Fraser, Derek (2019-03-29). Leeds and its Jewish community: A history. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-2311-4.
  7. "New Rainbow Plaque Trail in Leeds | Blog | Heritage Open Days". www.heritageopendays.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  8. Johnson, Kristian (2018-08-03). "Rainbow Plaque Trail unveiled ahead of Leeds Pride 2018". leedslive. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
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