Theatre / Features
Old Vic at 250 – Bristol as a creative city
Leading up to the Bristol Old Vic’s 250th anniversary, the Old Vic has been hosting Bristol Open Stage events, giving locals the chance to take the stage for ten minutes each and showcase their talents. Over 70 artists showed up with up to seven hours of material.
“Those have been moments where we’ve looked around and thought, ‘This building is full, and nearly all of these people haven’t been here before,’” says Sian Eustace, the Old Vic’s Young Company and participation producer. She stresses the importance of making the Old Vic a space where all artists, from all walks of life, can express themselves.
On bank holiday Monday, May 30, the Old Vic’s official 250th birthday, the Open Stage will return with acts exemplifying the diverse and creative performing artists in Bristol.
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“I’ve been thinking about why Bristol is such a creative city,” says the Old Vic’s literary associate and Open Stage organiser James Peries. “In Bristol, you see creativity all the time – the balloons, the suspension bridge, the ss Great Britain, Stokes Croft street art. I think it’s a city that always reminds you that it’s creative. It provokes you to say, ‘Me too. What have I got to add to that mix?’”
The Open Stage will showcase that local creativity, with performances in music, spoken word, theatre and undefinable genre-bending acts (think a live radio drama about the Bristol hum, or something between a mini-drama and a sketch).
Firebird Theatre, a 25-year-old company of disabled actors, takes the stage first along with their patron, Olivier Award winner Kathryn Hunter.
“To make our work accessible to an audience – old, young, disabled, not disabled – we have to first make it accessible to ourselves,” says Charlie, a member of the company. “We pull stories apart to find our own understanding and then we try to put them back together in a way that makes sense to our audience, and of course, us too.”
“I’ve been with Firebird Theatre since 2007, and we’ve been based at Bristol Old Vic the whole time. The support we get from everyone here is vital, from those working in admin, to technical staff and even fellow actors,” says Penny, another member. “As one of our company, Chris, says, ‘Yes, we are disabled performers, yes, we are different – but this does mean we can bring our own life experiences to our work.’ We’re able to offer something unique.”
Spoken word artist Tom Dewey, performed at previous Open Stage events at the Old Vic.
“It’s an honour to be on an iconic old stage to share my words and my story,” he says. “The creativity in Bristol has informed everything I’ve done. I’d like to think I would have been a poet anyway, but Bristol has inspired and influenced me.
“It’s clichéd, but it’s a hub. You only need to walk around it for one day to see it’s a very vibrant place.”
And the Open Stage birthday celebration is a fair representation of that vibrancy. Miles Chambers, Bristol’s first poet laureate, will share his poem about what makes Bristol special. Yesterday’s Island Revisited will recall a community play in 1980s Bristol, while the Brigstowe Village Band will recreate the village green folk bands of the late 1800s. Several other musicians, poets and actors will take the stage for equally unique performances.
The night of the Open Stage will end with an evening birthday show with RSVP Bhangra (a blend of Punjabi folk music and Western pop music), the Gurt Lush Choir and the Bristol MAN Chorus.
According to the Old Vic’s literary producer Sharon Clark, showcases like this are vital for not only Bristol but the whole of the UK.
“Creative industries isn’t a soft industry,” she says. “It contributes to the national portfolio of finance and brings money into this country. The economy is all about people making things, doing things.”
She mentions Chris Chibnall, the mastermind behind hit TV show Broadchurch, who long ago had a small play in the Bristol Old Vic Basement.
“From these little spaces, these huge voices can come out that have a real creative impact nationally. Without them, we’re a poorer place.”
To celebrate the Old Vic’s 250th birthday weekend (May 28-30), the oldest theatre in the English-speaking world will put on series of Bristol-wide projects when the Theatre, foyers, Studio and the street beyond will be handed over to the people of Bristol for a weekend of entertainment created by Bristolians of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
Read more: Old Vic at 250 – Expanding theatre’s reach