View allAll Photos Tagged upperground
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."
29 June 1980: Oxo Tower area. Barge House Street SE1 looking east. Buildings on right of picture soon to be demolished.
18 May 1985: Warehouses near the bottom of the OXO Tower are demolished. Taken from the north bank of the Thames.
this is a shot through an opening in the stairways of the train station in lawrence & broadway. i thought it was interesting to see what's underneath the train platform... i found mostly empty sodas and other human waste.
i'm glad i caught that bus though!
29 June 1980: Oxo Tower area. Entrance to 22 Barge House Street SE1. Note the "Pure Ice Company Ltd" and "Eldorado Ice Cream Co Ltd".
Went for a exploration trip with two good friends. In this set I focus on showing contrasts between LIGHT and SHADOW in Carlsberg Breweries, as well as doing some hand-held shots with a yellow plastic film in front of the flash while the flash was set on slow rear release. That is why some of the shots are quite mellow yellow C-:
Enjoy!
Cottesloe Theatre London, the smallest of the three National Theatre auditoria is a "black box" theatre capable of multiple layouts and used for more experimental work. Sightlines are frequently poor, but the production often exciting. It is due to be revamped with new circulation spaces and improved seating - after which it will be renamed the Dorfman Theatre. Opened in 1976 and designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, the Brutalist architecture has become an iconic part of the South Bank Arts Complex. It is grade 2* listed.
London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England - Royal National Theatre, South Bank
January 2012, image reworked 2021
I'm almost near the reason I went over to Aston: Villa Park.
Here are my first shots of the Trinity Road stand, from Trinity Road.
In this shot, the Villa Pharmacy is on the left, and the Upper Grounds pub is to the right (including that parked lorry in the way).
This stand was opened prior to the European Championships, in 1996, in which Villa Park was a host. Opposite is the latest edition. The three tiered Trinity Road Stand, complete with a row of executive boxes was opened in 2001.
This pub on Trinity Road in Aston is the Upper Grounds. It is or was a Mitchells and Butlers house.
It is possibly named after a local hill called Aston Upper Grounds, where the Holte family built Aston Hall.
The pub is no longer open (so Villa fans can't go here at present to drink and / or watch a Villa match).
An old sign that says Good Honest Beer on the Upper Grounds pub (former).
It is on the corner of Trinity Road and Bevington Road.
Not particularly characterful, but pleasant enough. (More recent photo from 2025, and older photo of it as The Rose and Crown from 1981 prior to being demolished, by Steve White.)
Address: 89 Upper Ground (formerly Commercial Road, and before that Narrow Wall).
Former Name(s): The Rose and Crown (on the same site).
Owner: Young's; Whitbread (former).
Links:
The venison burger with chips at this Young's pub. It was fine, but nothing special. At The Mulberry Bush, Upper Ground.
28 April 2013. My favourite London bridge. From a balcony in the National Theatre.
On Flickr Glen posted a photo of the bridge with a quotation from Ian Nairn's London. It was his favourite too. (Unless I've loaned it, I may still have an old copy of the book going yellow somewhere.)
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§ Article in the Guardian by Jonathan Glancey describes Iain Nairn's Voice of Outrage.
National Theatre London - two of the emergency exits dog-legging down from the upper levels. Opened in 1976 and designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, the Brutalist architecture has become an iconic part of the South Bank Arts Complex. It is grade 2* listed.
London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England - Royal National Theatre, South Bank
January 2012, image reworked 2021
National Theatre London. Imaginatively illuminated at night the National Theatre is hard to miss from a large swathe of the north bank of the Thames. Opened in 1976 and designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, the Brutalist architecture has become an iconic part of the South Bank Arts Complex. It is grade 2* listed.
London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England - Royal National Theatre, South Bank
January 2012, image reworked 2021
This pub on Trinity Road in Aston is the Upper Grounds. It is or was a Mitchells and Butlers house.
It is possibly named after a local hill called Aston Upper Grounds, where the Holte family built Aston Hall.
The pub is no longer open (so Villa fans can't go here at present to drink and / or watch a Villa match).
There was a lorry parked in the way when I got these shots.
It is on the corner of Trinity Road and Bevington Road.