Theatre Delicatessen transforms former BBC offices tinto theatrical pleasure garden

Called Marylebone Gardens, the space will open on 22 May 2012 with an “immersive, contemporary” staging of Henry V by Theatre Delicatessen in the basement where the audience will be plunged into a makeshift underground barracks.

Other artists and companies will be contributing to “Summer of Sport”, a series of events, performances and installations inspired by the Olympics. The summer’s sporting highlights will be screened in a pop-up village green inspired by the venue’s location on the site of Marylebone’s 18th Century Pleasure Gardens. Audiences will be able to bring their own picnic and blanket to relax on the indoor lawn as they watch the events.

Theatre Delicatessen associate artists including designer Katherine Heath, experimental theatre collectives HalfCut and Lab Collective, and movement director Ali Baybutt will be in residence developing new performances to be staged later in the year, including HalfCut’s Shelf-Life, a promenade work of installations which will represent the various stages of life.

Jessica Brewster, co-artistic director of Theatre Delicatessen, said “We at Theatre Delicatessen are passionate about transforming spaces across the city into new theatre worlds that capture the imaginations of audiences and artists alike”.

Theatre Delicatessen specialises in creating new work in alternative performance spaces in empty central London buildings. From 2010-11 the company was resident at 3-4 Picton Place, a large derelict office building behind Selfridges, where they staged an all- female production of A Doll’s House and TheatreSouk in which theatregoers were encouraged to barter to gain entry to a range of acts.