guardian.co.uk: For the first time in touring company Paines Plough's 37-year history, we're building our own theatre – albeit one that travels. The Roundabout auditorium is a portable in-the-round space in which we'll perform a repertory of new plays using a single ensemble of actors. It's going to revolutionise the way we tour, enabling us to take a range of different plays to previously inaccessible places.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Flatpacks and footlights: why the UK needs a touring in-the-round theatre
guardian.co.uk: For the first time in touring company Paines Plough's 37-year history, we're building our own theatre – albeit one that travels. The Roundabout auditorium is a portable in-the-round space in which we'll perform a repertory of new plays using a single ensemble of actors. It's going to revolutionise the way we tour, enabling us to take a range of different plays to previously inaccessible places.
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4 comments:
This proposal has several interesting components to it. The first is obviously the concept of a complete "pop up" theater in a box. What is most interesting about this is its similarity to the circus tent model of touring. It will be interesting to see if they face any of the same problems/have similar benefits. Overall, the idea is a good one and allows for audiences to be exposed to plays that they would not otherwise have a chance to see. The other interesting component to this project is the desire to create the theater as an "in the round" space. Of course, this mimics the circus model even more, but the author's rationale makes sense. The circular set up makes the theater the most compact and gives each audience member the most similar experience possible. I also get the impression that there are not many in-the-round theaters in the area, so this might be a new experience for some. I don't know how important the style of theater is for the "pop up theater" project or if it is simply an artistic goal of the company.
This seems like an amazing idea and at the price of 90000 pounds it does sound like a steal. But with the way that economy has been it is understandable that it is even hard to raise that type of money when it is not going to big cities and it will only be going to smaller places with fewer audiences that can see the show. I think that this a great idea in that they may be able to capture a new audience that is not used to seeing shows on a regular bases and may be get them to come to the bigger cites to go see shows. I am surprised that there is not a US version of this. But I am sure that there will be one in the near future and I will defiantly be anxious to see it.
For what they are proposing, they seem to be getting one incredible price for a very ambitious project. While traveling stages are nothing especially new, circular and mobile is a little less commons, and what they seem to be aiming for even more so. While the article was light on the tech specs of what exactly they are going after, the picture paints an ambitious picture that could be interesting to implement in other ways if this is successful.
Flat packing is nothing new; it has been used in furniture and small building design for 40 years. I think that this is a great adaptation of a semi-permanent, purpose built structure. The benefits of having a flat pack building far out weigh the down sides. Normally a flat pack semi-permanent building fails when people try to use it for something it is not designed for, but in a theater that is touring a show that doesn't happen. The cast and crew get to work in the same space every time so the down time of adjusting to a new space is minimised. At the end of the run they can reconfigure the building to fit the next show.
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