Alan Stanton
Red Shed
28 April 2013. The Shed, the National Theatre's temporary (one year) new venue.
You can see a four minute video where Ben Power, Associate Director of the National Theatre, introduces the project.
"It's much more intimate. Much more stripped back. It's a much rawer space than the other theatres.
I think the proximity of the audience to the performers is going to lead to a really exciting atmosphere. And make a kind of theatre which is really immediate, visceral, memorable theatre."
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Unfortunately we wasted our time at the Olivier Theatre next door which had none of these qualities. Which need not have mattered except that Zena, her sister and I went to a supposedly political play called This House. For me, It turned out to be pointless and tedious - or at least it was until the interval, when I left.
Afterwards I read a couple of the critics - who'd obviously seen and unanimously enjoyed a completely different play with the same name. For example, according to Matt Trueman in the Guardian it was a lampoon which "brilliantly skewers the hollow survivalism of party politics".
What I saw was a group of actors having to play cardboard cut-outs of (mostly) boors and bullies shouting and swearing a bit. So maybe the brilliant lampoon was in the second half.
I was outside in the sunshine enjoying the crowds, views of the river and second-hand bookstalls under Waterloo Bridge.
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§ Aerial view of where I took this photo.
§ Positioning the Shed - another video about the thinking behind this new temporary theatre.
§ Matthew Lloyd's website page about the National Theatre with scanned documents about its architecture. He explained that the Shed temporarily replaced the small Cottesloe Theatre during its reconstruction. The Cottesloe (now called 'The Dorfman') reconstruction took longer than planned and the Shed continued (under the name 'The Temporary Theatre' until 2016. Lloyd's site (accessed May 2017 had a photo of it being dismantled.)
§ Discussion about the Red Shed in Harringay Online Community Website. With reflective and informative comments by 'M'.
§ Superlative photos and, as always, interesting comments about the design, the architects and materials in De Zeen website. It explained that the "The Shed [was] naturally ventilated, with the four towers that draw air through the building providing its distinctive form."
Red Shed
28 April 2013. The Shed, the National Theatre's temporary (one year) new venue.
You can see a four minute video where Ben Power, Associate Director of the National Theatre, introduces the project.
"It's much more intimate. Much more stripped back. It's a much rawer space than the other theatres.
I think the proximity of the audience to the performers is going to lead to a really exciting atmosphere. And make a kind of theatre which is really immediate, visceral, memorable theatre."
════════════════════════
Unfortunately we wasted our time at the Olivier Theatre next door which had none of these qualities. Which need not have mattered except that Zena, her sister and I went to a supposedly political play called This House. For me, It turned out to be pointless and tedious - or at least it was until the interval, when I left.
Afterwards I read a couple of the critics - who'd obviously seen and unanimously enjoyed a completely different play with the same name. For example, according to Matt Trueman in the Guardian it was a lampoon which "brilliantly skewers the hollow survivalism of party politics".
What I saw was a group of actors having to play cardboard cut-outs of (mostly) boors and bullies shouting and swearing a bit. So maybe the brilliant lampoon was in the second half.
I was outside in the sunshine enjoying the crowds, views of the river and second-hand bookstalls under Waterloo Bridge.
___________________________
§ Aerial view of where I took this photo.
§ Positioning the Shed - another video about the thinking behind this new temporary theatre.
§ Matthew Lloyd's website page about the National Theatre with scanned documents about its architecture. He explained that the Shed temporarily replaced the small Cottesloe Theatre during its reconstruction. The Cottesloe (now called 'The Dorfman') reconstruction took longer than planned and the Shed continued (under the name 'The Temporary Theatre' until 2016. Lloyd's site (accessed May 2017 had a photo of it being dismantled.)
§ Discussion about the Red Shed in Harringay Online Community Website. With reflective and informative comments by 'M'.
§ Superlative photos and, as always, interesting comments about the design, the architects and materials in De Zeen website. It explained that the "The Shed [was] naturally ventilated, with the four towers that draw air through the building providing its distinctive form."