[5] Cheesman started his theatre work while he was in the RAF, and did some directing at university (including an "ambitious" production of King Lear).
[5] In 1962, Joseph and Cheeseman gained the use of a former cinema in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, and converted it into the Victoria Theatre, a square playing space where the audience viewed the performance from all four sides.
In that time he produced new plays from such writers as Peter Terson and Alan Ayckbourn, using young acting talent such as Ben Kingsley.
In 2009 he was recipient of the Young Vic Award for a lifetime's encouragement and inspiration to a younger generation of theatre artists.
"Peter Cheeseman died on 27 April 2010 of inanition and vascular dementia,[9] after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.