Theatre / Bristol old vic
Sneak peek of Bristol Old Vic’s breathtaking new foyer
The afternoon sunlight streams into Bristol Old Vic’s new foyer, casting shadows off its shutters facing King Street and catching the hodgepodge of brickwork on the theatre’s historic auditorium.
Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris touches just a few of the bricks. “These remember everything,” he says. “This wall shows that the theatre has constantly evolved. There’s something incredibly evocative.
“This wall keeps feeding you. The story of its history is the story of a living relationship with the city of Bristol.”
is needed now More than ever
Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris touches the historic wall of the theatre
After its last major refurbishment in the 1970s, the entire Old Vic was given a Grade I listing meaning that creating a new space like this is even more of a triumph.
Architect Steve Tompkins of Stirling prize-winning architects Haworth Tompkins has not just given the Old Vic a new foyer, but a new theatrical space as well once it officially opens to the public later this month.
Morris likens the new foyer to an Italian courtyard, surrounded on all sides by different buildings, and harking back to the days when the theatre here did have to be accessed via a courtyard behind a house on King Street after it had been built in secret and was still technically illegal to enter.
As Morris gives Bristol24/7 a sneak peek of the new foyer, the finishing touches are still being made prior to the doors being flung open at 8am on Monday, September 24, with a full batalion of Henry Hoovers spread throughout the new spaces.
An audience for a preview of Touching the Void gets ready to enter the theatre just behind us. In less than a fortnight, the experience of going to see a show here will be transformed.
Theatregoers will enter the foyer from King Street through the new breathtaking timber and glass-fronted foyer, which reveals the original auditorium façade to the street for the first time.
Final touches are being put to the new foyer before it opens on September 24
On the shutters overlooking King Street are words from David Garrick’s inaugural 1766 address at the theatre and a poem by former Bristol poet laureate Miles Chamber highlighting the theatre’s long history and talking about belonging.
“You can never tell people where to belong,” Morris says. “But I want people to feel that this building belongs to them, and on some occasions they belong here.”
He adds: “It’s above all a welcome. This space is now an invitation to explore.”
Get ready to explore the new foyer – flooded with natural light
While the wow factor comes from the foyer, other new spaces will also be revealed later this month.
Close to where the 1970s entrance used to be is the new studio theatre, while upstairs is the newly renovated Coopers’ Hall and above that Coopers’ Loft.
A view of the theatre’s wall from Coopers’ bar – still currently work in progress
Climbing one of the zig-zagging staircases
An old staircase discovered during the refurbishment works
Coopers’ Hall is even older than the theatre itself
On Sunday, September 23, a party at the theatre will thank everyone who has contributed to making the redevelopment a success.
At 8am the next day, the new foyer will open to the public, with readings of the text on the shutters on the front of the new building, and free tea and coffee until 11am.
For more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk
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