How can we make theatre in empty and abandoned spaces possible?

How can we make theatre in empty and abandoned spaces possible?

Justin Palmer, 30 June 2012

Justin Palmer, Ali Campbell, Bob Havard, Tom Bailey, Kelly, Bea, Astrid, Hannah Drake

-Building insurance - has to be householder"s responsibility if anything goes wrong - they are liable.
- way of obtaining public liability insurance to cover this
-difficulties of healthy and safety issues in moving into a new and disused building -'Capacity' project in Bristol - under threat but used to provide emerging artists with access to disused buildings/spaces - need to petition the Council to reinstate the scheme - letter to Simon Cook

-Examples of work in unconventional spaces in Bristol - domestic violence project performed in a council house - warehouse show at the Paintworks ‘UND’ (Capacity project) -how do you get the audiences? how do you transport people there? where do you meet?

-stigma in some circles of artist's work ‘not being up to scratch’ if they cannot get into a theatre and are resigned to doing it anyway in a site-specific mode

-how the economic recession has an impact positively in allowing more buildings to be available, but has a negative impact when artists have trouble persuading landlords to open up their spaces to them when economic times are hard
BOV-how much have they followed through with their earlier principles of ‘opening up’ the theatre to local artists- open spaces scheme, ferment, etc. - what are the challenges?
-Ferment how it is for the artist - unsure as to what they want artistically? how to get funding from them? criticism of not much feedback
-what do we offer the landlords directly? an artistic hub? a longer project involving lots of companies using the space as a marketplace, rehearsal space, for workshops, r&d, etc. -need a venue that is central and is provided with good transport links.
-Bath being currently easier than Bristol for artists to acquire buildings for work -Pop-up venues in Bristol mentioned: The Parlour (College Green), Artspace Lifespace College (Bedminster), The Looking Glass (Centre), The Little Black Box (Chandos Road).
-Example of a successful theatre company in London who do work in disused buildings being Theatre Delicatessen -used to be based in the old Uzbekistan Airways building in central London, now in the old BBC building near Baker Street -are able to do a long residency in these spaces in order to do plays and then move onto to becoming an artistic hub for other companies - Theatre Souk.
-RATE RELIEF!! - how to get it?

Tags:

Site-specific, found space, Hannah Drake, landlords, site specific, Site Specific site-specific, shops, insurance, rate relief, Ali Campbell, Tom Bailey, Justin Palmer,

Bob Havard, licences

Comments: 3

Julia Negus, 30 June 2012

I run the Shop Front Theatre in Coventry, West Midlands (www.theatreabsolute.co.uk) I opened it in Dec 09. I cant attend D & D but I can help with rates question. We are a charity since 2010 & get 80% rate relief & the remaining 20% is at the discretion of the LA. I submit an application for discretionary relief & highlight the work my theatre does that supports various LA policies etc ie: access to arts, work with young people etc.The Shop is leased from the council rather than a private landlord.When we opened the Shop Front it was a big learning curve, from touring small scale theatre to actually creating a space & making the work too (AND getting people to come!)BUT it is probably the best thing I have done professionally &we have recently signed a new 3 yr lease. I am happy to offer any support to others who want to take over empty spaces/shops etc email [email protected]

Luke John Emmett, 1 July 2012

Here is the link to Bath & North East Somersets Temporary use of spaces area to their website:

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/leisureandculture/artsandentertainment/artsdevelopment/Pages/Temporary%20use%20of%20empty%2

Definitely worth a look if the rate relief situation in Bristol is changing.

Mhora Samuel, 1 July 2012

Here's the link to the report from The Theatres Trust's Conference in 2011 - Converting Spaces Creating Theatres - some useful Key points and Design principles Converting Spaces Creating Theatres