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Friday, January 29, 2021
Photographer Peter Dazeley on the secrets behind London’s most beautiful theatres
Evening Standard: London-based Dazeley has been photographing the capital for years, hunting down the hidden details that most of us miss. His book, London Theatres, lifts the lid on some of the most spectacular, intricate, and yet often overlooked parts of venues around the city.
My first reaction to this article was simply “wow”. My second reaction was questioning the Tiktok sponsorship, but Tiktok has been a mysterious place that allowed for Ratatouille the Musical and is now forming projects like Bridgerton the Musical. The first photo in this is absolutely stunning. I have not been to England myself, but I have wanted to go and see the theatre and the theaters there for a long time. This article reaffirmed that thought. I love that the photographer, Dazeley, focused on all perspectives of the theaters, rather than taking the same shots all of the time. While I think both concepts have their merits, Dazeley’s efforts allow for unique looks into the rarely empty stages to get different experiences and appreciation for the design. Sophie Rainbow writes about his work so eloquently that I do want to see more and check out his book. It is haunting and beautiful at the same time to see them so empty. The idea of a Royal Receiving Room is not something I have heard about, but it is gorgeous and makes sense in the context of British theatre. I looked up more photos online, and it is all wonderful.
I loved the idea this photographer had going into this. I don’t know what he was saying at the beginning though about people coming into theaters and not looking around at the theater itself. I don’t know if it’s just theater nerds, but I absolutely love looking around at theaters. There have been theaters I’ve been to with lights resembling stars on the ceiling, hand painted murals with stone mason imagery and even when attending a high school performance I look around and try to guess what kind of tech they have. My favorite experience was seeing the Paris opera house before it burned down. I was so happy I almost cried, there was so much going on and a lot of gold. My favorite part of the article though is at the beginning when he describes the atmosphere of theaters, because whenever I’m in a theater it feels like home. Especially when I go back to my high school theater and I go back stage. It’s a feeling I can’t describe but there’s nothing like it. Because of that feeling, I personally don’t believe live theater will ever go away.
Maybe it's a stateside attitude, but I always get the feeling that people think of theatres as no more than a vessel for what's being put on stage, and they fail to appreciate the infrastructure and design that allows for the productions to be presented, and shows a rich history of the area and the venue. Many theatres in the United States are built with the intention to fit as many people as possible and to turn as much of a profit as possible, which ends up limiting the design work that actually goes into the aesthetics of a lobby or house area. Also, there are a lot more theaters in England that are older and carry that weight of the history, which you also don't see a lot of the time in the US. I'm really glad that the photographer took photos of various areas around the different theaters, so you really get a sense of the span of the styles and scales of the houses.
3 comments:
My first reaction to this article was simply “wow”. My second reaction was questioning the Tiktok sponsorship, but Tiktok has been a mysterious place that allowed for Ratatouille the Musical and is now forming projects like Bridgerton the Musical. The first photo in this is absolutely stunning. I have not been to England myself, but I have wanted to go and see the theatre and the theaters there for a long time. This article reaffirmed that thought. I love that the photographer, Dazeley, focused on all perspectives of the theaters, rather than taking the same shots all of the time. While I think both concepts have their merits, Dazeley’s efforts allow for unique looks into the rarely empty stages to get different experiences and appreciation for the design. Sophie Rainbow writes about his work so eloquently that I do want to see more and check out his book. It is haunting and beautiful at the same time to see them so empty. The idea of a Royal Receiving Room is not something I have heard about, but it is gorgeous and makes sense in the context of British theatre. I looked up more photos online, and it is all wonderful.
I loved the idea this photographer had going into this. I don’t know what he was saying at the beginning though about people coming into theaters and not looking around at the theater itself. I don’t know if it’s just theater nerds, but I absolutely love looking around at theaters. There have been theaters I’ve been to with lights resembling stars on the ceiling, hand painted murals with stone mason imagery and even when attending a high school performance I look around and try to guess what kind of tech they have. My favorite experience was seeing the Paris opera house before it burned down. I was so happy I almost cried, there was so much going on and a lot of gold. My favorite part of the article though is at the beginning when he describes the atmosphere of theaters, because whenever I’m in a theater it feels like home. Especially when I go back to my high school theater and I go back stage. It’s a feeling I can’t describe but there’s nothing like it. Because of that feeling, I personally don’t believe live theater will ever go away.
Maybe it's a stateside attitude, but I always get the feeling that people think of theatres as no more than a vessel for what's being put on stage, and they fail to appreciate the infrastructure and design that allows for the productions to be presented, and shows a rich history of the area and the venue. Many theatres in the United States are built with the intention to fit as many people as possible and to turn as much of a profit as possible, which ends up limiting the design work that actually goes into the aesthetics of a lobby or house area. Also, there are a lot more theaters in England that are older and carry that weight of the history, which you also don't see a lot of the time in the US. I'm really glad that the photographer took photos of various areas around the different theaters, so you really get a sense of the span of the styles and scales of the houses.
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