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Honour Bayes: Theatre buildings & communities

The oldest working theatre in the country, Bristol Old Vic, turned its lights back on last week after 18 months of refurbishment. This week warm reviews of its opening production, John O’Keeffe’s Wild Oats, show it is in as rude a health as it was when it housed rowdy 18th century audiences.

Though auditoriums are quieter now they are just as demanding, a demand that will be well satisfied with the fully kitted out new building. Modern concerns such as sightlines and access have been improved whilst the intimacy that comes with the 18th century design remains.

Now more than ever, with churches, community centres and libraries in decline and individualism on the rise, spaces where people can congregate to engage with stories are of vital importance.

As expensive as theatre buildings are they are worth preserving. In a time when funds are tight and big theatres appear to be taking most for structural upkeep, interrogating their validity is important. But these buildings house much more than the shows which take place in their darkened auditoriums, acting as much needed spaces where communities can be built and nurtured.

This is not a nostalgic wish to hang on to beautiful old buildings. To look to a – some would say much uglier – contemporary example The National Theatre is a perfect indicator of the importance of such spaces. The NT has sometimes been unfavourably compared to its mobile counterparts in Scotland and Wales, with questions about its ability to serve anyone outside the capital often shouted.

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As expensive as theatre buildings are they are worth preserving”

Meanwhile the increasingly essential National Theatre Studio proves that providing work space for artists from all spectrums of theatre fosters exciting interdisciplinary projects.

With a focus on supporting each artist individually, this fertilisation is a happy side effect of a building that creates neighbours out of playwrights, performance artists and devising theatre companies. It can only serve to enrich our theatre ecology in a way that mobile institutions without such brick and mortar resources will find more challenging.

There are of course some great organisations that offer this network of support for artists remotely, Forest Fringe to name but one. But in terms of creating a home for audiences this is harder to do without a roof over your head.

Bristol Old Vic has done a sterling job whilst its base has been rebuilt. But the possibilities for outreach and development are doubled now that they have the space to house such projects. It may have cost a packet, but I think such capital development is worth it. With over two thousand individuals from the surrounding area making financial contributions to the capital appeal, it appears that the people of Bristol do too.

- by Honour Bayes

Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.

Honour is a freelance arts journalist who has written for a number of publications including the Guardian, the Stage, Time Out, Total Theatre, FEST Magazine and the Church Times. She was Theatre Editor of Fourthwall and is on the editorial team at Exeunt Magazine where she is the host of a bi-monthly arts podcast. Honour blogs at http://theatreworkbook.wordpress.com

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	Honour Bayes: Lyric keeps it local - 25th Sep 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: Verbatim rights & wrongs - 3rd Sep 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: The politics of performance - 29th Aug 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: Acting with a capital A - 23rd Aug 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: Edinburgh - season to season - 14th Aug 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: All that glitters IS gold - 7th Aug 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: Theatre can't be bought & sold - 1st Aug 2012 blog
	Honour Bayes: In praise of the preview - 24th Jul 2012 blog
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Internal Links
	Year of the Producer: Emma Stenning on reopening Bristol Old Vic - 11th Sep 2012 Interviews