[2] Touring was not successful for the company, and in 1953 Joan Littlewood took the gamble of taking a lease on a permanent base at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London.
With Littlewood, as director, Gerry Raffles (1928–1975) as manager and John Bury as designer, the Theatre Workshop continued to present a mixed programme of classics and modern plays with contemporary themes.
In April 1953, a request for funds was met with The Finance Committee at their last meeting was unable to recommend any grant for the purposes you have in mind.
[3] In May 1955 Theatre Workshop presented acclaimed productions of Volpone and Arden of Faversham at the Théâtre Hébertot, though the company had to beg their fares home.
Finances continued to be tight, but the company was kept afloat with transfers of many successful plays to the West End stage and later, film productions.
This workload put a severe strain on resources, as these transfers meant that experienced cast members were tied up for long periods and had to be replaced in the repertory.
The Fun Palace was an ambitious multi-arts project conceived by Littlewood and the company in conjunction with the architect Cedric Price.
Another project conceived in the 1960s was the formation of an acting school associated with Theatre Workshop to inspire a new generation of actors with the ideas and techniques of Littlewood.
[5] Michael has upheld the theatre’s commitment to develop new work and to provide a platform for those voices underrepresented in the ever-changing communities of East London.
Highlights include new plays by Cosh Omar, The Battle of Green Lanes and The Great Extension; Jamaica House by Paul Sirett, which had a site-specific performance on the top floor of a tower block in Stepney; new musicals such as Make Some Noise and One Dance Will Do; Ray Davies’s Come Dancing, winner of the What’s On Stage Best Musical; and John Adam's song play I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky.
In 2018 he was awarded a Freedom of the City of London and made a Member of the Order of the Empire for services to the Arts in the Queen's Birthday honours.