New Accessions Forthcoming Events · 2017. 12. 12. · Shakespeare expert Jonathan Bate, reassesses...
Transcript of New Accessions Forthcoming Events · 2017. 12. 12. · Shakespeare expert Jonathan Bate, reassesses...
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The Director, University of Bristol Theatre Collection,
Department of Drama, Cantocks Close, Bristol BS8 1UP
Tel: 0117 33 15086 Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrecollection
Recent highlights include:
Graham Barlow Archive
additions—design archive
[donated by Priscilla Barlow]
Bristol Hippodrome material
Including posters,
[donated by John Lamus]
Terry Hallett Collection
[donated by Greer Hallett
- see details on Page 3]
NRLA 2010 Footage
[Commissioned by the Theatre
Collection]
Phyllida Garth Archive
[donated by Lesley Trotter]
Friends Event
The Crucible: talk & show
Tuesday 15th June
£13 - includes the show and a
post-show discussion with
the director Sue Wilson
Exhibition Opening
The Ingram bequest:
Leslie Hurry Designs
Friday 11th June, 6pm
Please contact the Theatre
Collection to book your place
Volunteer Sessions:
Preservation preparation in
the Theatre Collection
Wednesday 9th June
10am - 12pm
Wednesday 7th July
2pm - 4pm
Phone Jo, Bex or Heather on
0117 33 15086 or email
Tea and biscuits provided!
THEATRE COLLECTION
MAILINGS
Please note: if you have received
this newsletter by mail it means that
your name and address are stored
on the Theatre Collection mailing
list. These details may be used by
the Theatre Collection, and also
more widely by the University of
Bristol. Should you wish your details
to be removed from the mailing list,
please contact us.
Forthcoming Events New Accessions
Spring 2010 Issue 23
THE NRLA CELEBRATES 30 YEARS!
The NRLA reached a very special landmark when it celebrated
its 30th Anniversary in March 2010.
In the past three decades the festival has hosted work from
some of the most adventurous artists from all over the world. It
has travelled to Nottingham and London, but has always
returned to roost in Glasgow. It has featured performances that
have lasted moments, and others for 97 hours. Audiences have
watched paper launched into the Glasgow night sky on helium
balloons, been soaked by upturned hoses, and washed their
hands with soap made from the fat of an artist's stomach.
The NRLA has hosted artists who have screamed, wept, writhed,
slept and drawn blood, and to celebrate its long and colourful
history, more than a hundred artists were invited back to
present new work. The line-up was nothing short of
extraordinary, including work from such live art luminaries as
Ron Athey, Neil Bartlett, Julia Bardsley, Alastair MacLennan, La
Ribot, Lee Wen and Kira O'Reilly.
The Theatre Collection commissioned the video
documentation of the festival by a specialist camera team. A
full list of the archived footage from the 2010 Festival is
available at http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/liveart/
liveart_NRLA.html and is available to view by appointment.
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Professor of Medieval Studies,
Pamela King, in partnership
with the Bristol University Thea-
tre Collection, has secured
funding from the Worldwide
Universities Network to progress
their project "Medieval Plays in
Modern Performance" (http://
w w w . w u n . a c . u k /
research/2mp).
The funding will enable an in-
ternational team of theatre
scholars, led by Bristol, to track
all known archival traces of
twentieth-century revivals, re-
constructions, and adapta-
tions of English drama from the
Middle Ages.
The project wants to uncover
previously unknown archival
traces in order to create a
central hub of information. It is
expected that the archives will
reveal the work of pioneering
producers who defied the
censors to bring God to the
stage for the first time since the
2MP Project
reign of Elizabeth I.
The 1951 Festival of Britain saw
an explosion of interest in ac-
tivity which had begun 50
years earlier with William Poel's
production of "Everyman".
Bristol University Drama Depart-
ment, the first of its kind in the
UK, helped drive this forward
with such seminal productions
a s t h e C o r n i s h
"Ordinalia" (1969).
The project seeks to ensure
that these unique archives are
preserved for, and made ac-
cessible to, future generations.
Owners and custodians of rel-
evant material are invited to
contact the project partners
about the material they hold.
For more information contact
the Theatre Collection on 0117
331 5086 or theatre-
2MP Project
Tam
ing
of
the
Sh
rew
Me
die
-
va
l P
laye
rs, 19
85
Bristol Drama Dept, Cornish
Ordinalia, 1969
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Legacies
By leaving a gift in your will
to the University of Bristol
Theatre Collection you can
help it to grow and ensure
the best care for our collec-
tions, so enabling students
to access this unique re-
source.
Regardless of its size, your
legacy will live on forever,
and it will make a significant
impact on Bristol University
generation after genera-
tion.
For further information
please contact Jo Elsworth.
A Reminder ….
It is vital that we keep a rec-
ord of people using the The-
atre Collection Therefore, in
October 2009, the Theatre
Collection introduced a
new system where all exter-
nal researchers (including
those only using the library)
will be asked to complete a
researcher’s form. A visitor’s
pass will then be issued and
must be produced when
signing in each day.
New Procedures
Ted Hughes
and Shakespeare
This year’s Wickham lecture, in
conjunction with the Society for
Theatre Research, was given
by Jonathan Bate on 4th May.
A leading Shakespeare scholar,
Bate’s lecture focussed on the
subject of
Bate’s cur-
rent re-
search for
his book on
the literary
l i f e o f
Hughes.
Ted Hughes was passionate
about Shakespeare, an obses-
sion that culminated in his book
Shakespeare and the Goddess
of Complete Being. Derided by
professional Shakespeareans
on its publication, it now looks
prophetic of the turn towards
an interest in religion in much
recent work on Shakespeare.
Shakespeare expert Jonathan
Bate, reassesses the poet as a
reader of Shakespeare, while
also showing how this publica-
tion gives us more of an insight
into Hughes’ life and personali-
ty than that of Shakespeare.
The lecture was well attended
and enjoyed by all.
Wickham Lecture 2010
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Gog Theatre Company
Gog Theatre was initially
formed from a three month
theatre training and perfor-
mance Youth Opportunities
Programme, sponsored by a
M a n p o w e r S e r v i c e s
scheme, in 1981.
The name, Gog, was sug-
gested by a member of the
theatre group as there are
two 1000 year old trees at
the foot of Glastonbury Tor
called Gog and Magog. It
was said in the Druids time
that these trees were the
beginning of a sacred tree
a v e n u e
that let up
to the Tor.
The tree is
also the
logo of the
Gog Thea-
tre.
Gog Theatre worked with
primary and secondary
schools, colleges, youth and
community centres by way
of performance tours, work-
shop programmes in thea-
tre, dance, video and cir-
cus, alongside a commit-
ment to multi-cultural edu-
One From the Archive ... cation within the country.
As well as touring schools,
Gog has also devised and
performed other plays
aimed at adult audiences
and toured them to various
venues in England, including
the Edinburgh Festival.
Gog also undertook work on
an international scale. In
November 1985 Gog trav-
elled to Cameroon, West
Africa for a three month
performance and workshop
tour. From this visit evolved
two productions, A Comin’
Home and Into Africa.
Following this, in September
1989, Gog travelled to Tbilisi,
Georgia USSR for the first
part of a unique cultural ex-
change project with the
Rustaveli Young Company.
Gog premiered a new play
called Birdman based on
the story of Bladud, an an-
cient King of Britain, who
wanted to fly. In May 1990
Gog Theatre hosted the
Rustaveli Young Company
in England, with a national
tour of The Stepmother.
This archive is currently be-
ing catalogued by a volun-
teer and oral history inter-
views are being undertaken
with the original members.
Go
g P
ost
er,
198
4-5
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The Terry Hallett
Collection
Donated by his wife, Greer,
the Theatre Collection has
recently acquired the Terry
Hallett archive. The author
of Bristol's Forgotten Empire:
the History of the Empire
Theat re, Hal let t was
involved in many local
history and theatre history
projects, and was a keen
cinema and theatre-goer.
Amongst his papers are
programmes, playbil ls ,
photographs, books and
research notes relating to
Bristol Theatre and Music
Hall.
Cinema related material
from this collection has
been donated to the Bill
Douglas Centre at the
University of Exeter.
New Archives Obituary
Rodney West
(1943—2010)
It is with
sadness that
we report
the death of
R o d n e y
West.
Following his
undergraduate degree at
Leeds, Rodney undertook a
postgraduate course at
Bristol University Drama
Dept.
He joined the Bristol Old Vic
Company as Assistant
Theatre Manager in 1967, as
a student placement.
When, in May 1968 he took
up position as Theatre
Manager he did so as ‘the
youngest Theatre Manager
in the oldest theatre’. He
later founded London Arts
Discovery.
Rodney was an established
committee member of the
Friends of the Theatre
Collection. He will be missed
by all who knew him.
A memorial service is to be
held at St. Paul’s Church,
Covent Garden, London on
25th September 2010, 11am.
Fro
nt
co
ve
r o
f B
rist
ol’s
For-
go
tte
n E
mp
ire
, Te
rry H
alle
tt
4
successes in the West End in-
cluding War and Peace, A Sev-
ered Head, and Fiorello.
By 1966 Barlow had developed
an ambition to direct. So he
matriculated at Bristol to read
for the combined degree in
English, Drama and History of
European Art. During these
three years he remained inter-
mittently at the service of the
Bristol Old Vic and naturally of
the Drama Department where
he enjoyed a happy collabora-
tion with Professor Glynn Wick-
ham on many productions.
On graduating he applied for
an academic post at the re-
cently established Drama De-
partment at the University of
Glasgow. His postgraduate
study led to his becoming a
recognized authority on 16th
and 17th century theatre archi-
tecture. His doctoral thesis, From
Tennis Court to Opera House
became a seminal study in this
field.
In 1983, Barlow set up home
with his second wife on the Isle
of Skye but continued to com-
mute and teach. He retired ear-
ly in 1993.
He bequeathed his archives to
the Theatre Collection in his will
and following his death in 2003
first his academic papers, and
more recently his designs are
now held here.
New Archives
Graham Barlow designs
Graham Barlow’s love for all
aspects of theatre became
evident during his time at LSE,
whilst also working for the Metal
Box Company. National Service,
spent mainly in Germany en-
couraged this with the cultural
renaissance taking place and
the West Berlin scene.
When he left the army, he re-
turned to London with a firm
ambition to become a theatre
designer. There was nothing like
a training in the then flourishing
repertory system and Barlow
found a position in a company
in St Helen’s to train as a scenic
artist. His talent was recognized
and he was contracted to work
under Paul Shelving at Birming-
ham Rep, moving on to Notting-
ham and finally to Bristol Old Vic
where, now married with two
young children, he was estab-
lished as resident designer with
Portrait of Graham Barlow from
his time at Bristol Old Vic
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The Theatre Collection dealt
with 156 research enquiries
from January to April 2010,
including 38 regarding the
Live Art Archives.
Subjects included: Welfare
S t a t e I n t e r n a t i o n a l
(including a number of re-
searchers using the materi-
al); Harold Pinter, especially
regarding The Room; re-
quests for images for use in
television and publications
including John Vickers, Bris-
tol Old Vic and others; fami-
ly history enquiries from
those whose ancestors were
on the stage; and theatre
architecture.
We also had 661 visitors in
the Reading Room during
the same period.
Researchers are encour-
aged to use our online
s e a r c h f a c i l i t y :
www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrec
ollection as a first point of
reference.
Any questions …? Theatre Collection
Opening Hours
Monday 12.00pm - 4 .45pm
Tuesday to Friday
9.30 am - 4.45 pm
We are closed at weekends
and on Bank Holidays and
University closure days. We
close for 2 weeks in early
September for collections
management and may very
occasionally close for other
reasons - please phone us
on 0117 33 15086 or check
our website for any forth-
coming closure dates.
In order to make the most of
your visit to the Theatre Col-
lection archives, it is advisa-
ble (but not essential) to
make an appointment with
us, either by phone (0117 33
15086) or email (theatre-
We can then discuss your
requirements and retrieve
any archival material re-
quested in time for your arri-
val.
We look forward to
seeing you soon!
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Desperate Men
30th Anniversary
2010 sees the 30th anniver-
sary of Bristol-based interna-
tionally renowned theatre
company, Desperate Men.
Desperate Men are one of
the UK’s longest-running
Street Theatre Companies.
Founded in Amsterdam in
1980 by Richie Smith and
Jon Beedell, the company
combines contemporary
themes with an anarchic,
passionate style.
Since 1980 Desperate Men
have produced eight in-
door shows; over thirty street
shows, animations and
community events in the UK
and abroad; performed
countless cabarets, led doz-
ens of workshops, produced
videos for Channel 4, and
invented their own lan-
guage, “Desperanto” They
have appeared from Edin-
burgh to Athens, Sligo to
Berlin.
On 15th—17th October
there will be a series of
events taking place in Bristol
to celebrate the 30th anni-
versary, aptly named ‘The
Festival of Desperation’.
One aspect is the ‘Acts of
Desperation’ project with
new and emerging Bristol
based performers (funded
by Bristol City Council).
There will also be an exhibi-
tion which is to be curated
by and mounted in the The-
atre Collection foyer, chart-
ing the history of the Desper-
ate Men and their iconic
work.
It is also planned that the
archives will be transferred
to the Theatre Collection
during this year, to be pre-
served and catalogued. A
postgraduate student is cur-
rently working on the mate-
rial to sort and appraise it
before transfer takes place.
For more information see:
http://www.desperatemen.
com/.
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Working with Students
The Theatre Collection is con-
tinuing to be involved in the
teaching of the Drama Dept
and more widely across the
Faculty of Arts.
This term first year undergradu-
ates have been working with
the archives in various ways in
their Approaches 2 module. At
the beginning of the module
they had to create a timeline,
choosing a 50 year period and
then selecting 2 historic and 3
theatrical key events in that
period. They were to use the
library and the archives to find
these events – and were NOT
allowed to use the internet at
all!
The culmination of this same
module, saw the students cre-
ating a performance, using
items from the archives as in-
spiration. Items including a
make-up box, scenic grooves
from Bristol Old Vic, a Victorian
court sword, and Franko B’s
collar were used.
The Theatre Collection has also
established a new Independ-
ent Study postgraduate mod-
ule within History of Art entitled
‘Curating the Theatre Collec-
tion’. The unit aims to give MA
students extra curatorial expe-
rience, which is particularly
important for those wanting to
go on to work in museums and
galleries. Students will acquire
practical experience of cura-
torial processes, and expert
knowledge of the subject-
matter of the exhibition. They
will develop techniques of in-
dependent research as well as
enhancing their ability to work
in a team. The task of prepar-
ing texts for the catalogue
and display will enhance their
research and writing skills.
Sophie, a postgraduate on the
MA Performance Research
course, is basing her disserta-
tion on the Berta Freistadt ar-
chive, recent additions to
which were reported in the last
newsletter. She will be cata-
loguing the new material as
part of this work.
Eleanor, a third-year under-
graduate, used the Theatre
Collection and museum pro-
cesses as inspiration for her
final year performance. It in-
volved the audience writing
down memories concerning
their body, snippets of which
were written on Eleanor’s body
in the archive. She then com-
mitted herslef to the archive as
a commentary on ‘the body
as archive’. All the items creat-
ed by the performance were
donated to the Theatre Col-
lection, completing the circle.
Working with Students
6
historical-cluster-f***. This
instantaneous documenting
of live work took the form of
collating and recycling past
events through existing his-
torical documents over a
two-day period.
Through access to the ar-
chives of the NRLA, TRACE
photocopied existing perfor-
mance photo documents,
catalogues, posters, flyers,
and programmes of past
performances and events
produced by the NRLA
since 1979.
During the live performanc-
es the artists processed this
documentation by continu-
ously photocopying images
of past performances on a
series of photocopy ma-
chines. They further insinuat-
ed their own physical pres-
ence into the archive by
photocopying their own
bodies. The photocopies
were shredded, with the
shredded material being
placed in recycled bags for
redistribution. The public
had full access throughout
to experience the ‘live’ ac-
tivity and the resulting instal-
lation/evidence and residu-
al traces.
Live Art Archives News
Post-Historical-Cluster-F***
As part of the 30th Anniver-
sary of the NRLA, the Live Art
Archives were delighted to
collaborate with TRACE Col-
lective on a new perfor-
mance piece.
TRACE is dedicated to the
research, investigation, dis-
semination and discourse of
performance art. The
group’s aim is to focus on
the investigation and explo-
ration of living performance
activity and its discourse
and dissemination through
process, documentation
and archiving.
For the 30th anniversary of
the NRLA, through a dura-
tional performance, the
Trace Collective reviewed
the history of the National
Review of Live Art as post-
Live Art Archives News
TRACE Collective: André Stitt, Eddie
Ladd, Holly Davey, Philip Babot and
Tim Freeman
11
Oral History Project
This project looks
to record the
memories of
those involved
in the theatre,
whose memories
may otherwise be
lost forever, and
aims to:
Build up an oral history
archive to compliment the
collections held here;
Provide an enhanced
research resource;
Provide an alternative
way for our supporters to
contribute to the develop-
ment of the Theatre Collec-
tion.
Want to get involved? We need help to conduct
interviews, transcribe re-
cordings, or even financially
sponsor an interview. We
are also keen to interview
those involved in the thea-
tre in any way.
More details can be found
at www.br i s to l .ac .uk/
t h e a t r e c o l l e c t i o n /
oral_history_leaflet.html.
Friends Event
The Crucible: Performance and post
-show talk
Tuesday 15th June 2010
Andrew Stocker, Chair of
the Friends Association, has
arranged for a post-show
talk by director Sue Wilson,
prior to the Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School’s production
of Miller’s The Crucible at
the Theatre Royal, Bristol.
Sue will talk about this pro-
duction and her experienc-
es of working with the Thea-
tre School.
Please note: this event is
open to Friends of the Thea-
tre Collection only.
Cost £13.
To book your place, please
contact Jo, Heather or Bex
on 0117 331 5086 or theatre-
10
TC Exhibition News
Ray Ingram Bequest:
Hurry at London Old Vic
Raymond Ingram was an
enthusiast of the theatre, his
love for drama influencing
much of his life. Having
worked as a drama teacher
in Wolverhampton and
Taunton, he later went on to
lecture on the subject at the
University of Winchester, in
due course becoming the
Head of the Drama Depart-
ment.
During his earlier years stud-
ying at King’s College he
became acquainted with
the artist and set designer
Leslie Hurry, who was to be-
come a lifelong friend. In-
gram collected many of
Hurry’s designs, soon be-
coming the leading authori-
ty on his work.
This exhibition is in com-
TC Exhibition News
memoration of Raymond
Ingram and the collection
of Leslie Hurry designs he
has donated to the Theatre
Collection. It showcases a
selection of Hurry’s set and
costume designs, primarily
from the London Old Vic
productions of Tamburlaine
the Great, Richard II and
The Cenci.
The exhibition also continues
in the Reading Room, dis-
playing designs from other
well known productions by
Leslie Hurry, such as Hamlet.
Opening event
This exhibition will be official-
ly opened on Friday 11th
June at 6pm, in the Theatre
Collection Foyer and Read-
ing Room. All are welcome -
see enclosed flyer for details
and to book.
Co
stu
me
de
sig
n,
Qu
ee
n
in R
ich
ard
II, L
on
do
n O
ld
Vic
, 1
95
5.
Lesl
ie H
urr
y
7
NRLA 1979 – 2010: A Personal History
To celebrate the 30th Anniver-
sary of the NRLA, a limited edi-
tion Box Set was launched at
midnight on Wednesday
March 17th at the CCA in Glas-
gow.
The Box Set represents the
unique spirit of the NRLA festi-
val, as well as the diversity of its
programme over the past 30
years. Seventy contributors
each offer their own perspec-
tive on and history of the long-
est-running live art festival in
the world.
The archive, held at the Thea-
tre Collection, was heavily used
to create this box set and all
material from all the past festi-
vals can be viewed here.
Celebrating 30 years of remark-
able live arts practice, the set
contains:
3 specially produced DVDs,
capturing 3 decades of work
shown at the NRLA;
comprehensive interviews
with Artistic Director, Nikki Mili-
can, telling the story of the
founding of the NRLA, its early
years, and its subsequent de-
velopments;
Live Art Archives News
newly commissioned essays
by significant international art-
ists and producers reflecting
on the place of the NRLA in
their own careers and on the
international live art scene;
anecdotal reflections which
bring to life the distinctive en-
ergy – the liveness – of the
NRLA;
‘Off the Radar’ – contribu-
tions from artists who once
played a key role in the NRLA,
but who have not been at the
NRLA since its early years;
a published ‘archive’ which
lists, year by year, all the artists,
works and events that have
been programmed by the
NRLA since its inception.
reproductions of all the front
covers of the NRLA pro-
grammes and poster cam-
paigns.
Price £45 + p&p
To order your Limited Edition Box
Set, please visit the New Moves
website at
http://www.newmoves.co.uk/na
tional-review-of-live-art
To contact the Theatre Collec-
tion to view any of the NRLA ma-
terial, contact liveart-
Live Art Archives News
8
Volunteer News
The number of Theatre Col-
lection Volunteers has
grown recently, with a num-
ber of new Volunteers tak-
ing on individual projects.
Some projects are:
Eleanor J is helping to cu-
rate the next Theatre Col-
lection exhibition, based on
the Raymond Ingram Be-
quest of Leslie Hurry designs
(see page 10 for more de-
tails).
Eleanor F, a third year Dra-
ma student has been listing
the recently acquired Rose-
mary Vercoe/Patrick Rob-
ertson design archive, which
was reported in the last
newsletter.
Anne is gaining museum
experience by making sta-
tistical sense of the Theatre
Collection environmental
monitoring forms - essential
for preventing any potential
problems for the collection.
Volunteer News
Caroline has started the
mammoth task of indexing
the Ingram scrapbooks to
make these useful research
items accessible.
Sophie is working with Des-
perate Men theatre com-
pany to appraise and or-
ganise their archive before
it is donated to the Theatre
Collection. She is also under-
taking Oral History interviews
with the members of the
company. See page 12 for
more information
Volunteer Sessions
Preservation Work
A new project for 2010 -
preservation of the John Vickers
glass plate negatives, creating
specialist storage for this archive
Wednesday 9th June 10am-12pm
Wednesday 7th July 2pm-4pm
Phone Jo, Bex or Heather on
0117 33 15086 or email
9
Friends News
space. The seats themselves
are different, borrowed for the
duration of the run so that we
can test them out for comfort
and style.
Moving up to the dress circle,
we’ve started to combat one
of our biggest obstacles: the
beautiful pillars that both help
define our auditorium, and
block the view of many of our
patrons. By losing the central
aisle we’ve been able to cre-
ate entrances where there
were once restricted view seats
and, vice versa, seats where
the aisle once was; the central,
raised, best view in the house.
There are different seats here
too, and we think they’re pretty
comfy.
In the gallery you’ll notice
something different: each seat
gives you a full view of the
stage, achieved by raising the
benches just a little. This area is
now unreserved, so if you get in
first and grab the front row then
you really will have one of the
best spots in the theatre for a
fraction of the price of the
stalls.
We’d love to know what you
think. Please drop me a line on
write to me at the theatre.
Emma
(Emma Stenning, Executive
Director, BOV)
Friends News
Dear Friends of the Theatre Col-
lection,
Thank you so much for inviting
me to join your AGM before
Christmas. It’s always a treat to
spend time talking about our
beautiful theatre with like mind-
ed souls!
I would like to tell you a little
about the temporary changes
that we’ve made to the Thea-
tre Royal auditorium for our
production of Juliet and Her
Romeo, which Tom is directing.
We’ve been trying out some of
the ideas that are driving our
planned for capital develop-
ment with a fairly simple ambi-
tion in mind; that the audience
should get a better view of the
stage and a little more leg
room.
We’ve put the stage back to its
original thrust format, as we did
last year for Uncle Vanya.
We’ve opened up the stage
left box to make an actor’s
entrance, whilst sitting in the
stage right one puts you within
thrilling touching distance of
the performance.
In the stalls we’ve raised the
floor level to give a better view
of the extended stage and,
most strikingly, we’ve got rid of
the central aisle, filling the best
positions in the house with
seats, rather than empty