de niese.dad turned it from being a sort of a country house homespun festival into a world renowned international festival. he knocked down the theatre that his dad had built and he rebuilt the current theatre, which is a 1,200 seater, in the early '90s. and do you have any plans for its evolution? well, you have to have an eye for tradition on the past, but you have to keep relevant. it's about putting on fantastic world class, transformative operas. it's about nurturing young talent. that is the same, but if you want to attract the next generation of audiences in, you cannot keep performing in the same way with traditional sets and costumes. we update shows, we challenge and provoke. so, we're trying to kind of keep pace with the changing world, but maintaining our traditions. the second world war put a temporary stop to performances, and the house itself played a part in the war effort. glyndebourne opened its doors to evacuee children. so, we had over 300 evacuee children staying with us. a