Bristol Old Vic Redevelopment

If anyone has walked past the backstage entrance to Bristol Old Vic this week, you might have seen quite a bit of activity. The doors have arrived! Three lorry-loads in fact.  We have doors for the auditorium, doors for rehearsal rooms, doors for boiler rooms, doors for server rooms, doors for cupboards, doors for toilets, front doors, back doors, stable doors (not really that one). You name it, we've got a door for it.  

Doors, windows...it's all sounding reassuringly domestic after the tonnes of concrete, cables and scaffolding. The only things we're missing are the keys - but that's for another day...

Here's a piece from The Post on our time capsule. Thanks to the students from Bristol's John Cabot Academy and Cotham School for the brilliant items they provided.

 

We asked Tom Morris four questions about his experience of the redevelopment project:

What has been the most surprising discovery for you during this process?

The most exciting discovery has been the original dimensions and position of the stage – which vindicate the experiments we carried out for Juliet and her Romeo and Swallows and Amazons.  James Saunders(on), who designed this theatre, really knew what he was doing.  The greatest actor of the day, David Garrick said:

“You cannot have a better man for your business than Saunderson, clear brain’d to ye skull of him”.

What has been the most exciting moment for you so far?

The most exciting moment was standing in the old stage-right slip entrance, unveiled for the first time since Phipps chopped back the fore-stage in 1880.  We’ll be using that entrance again this summer.

You can still see the stains of sweat and greasepaint where the 18^th century actors used to lean before making their entrances.

What are you still looking forward to?

Putting shows on.

What’s the best thing about your role on the project?

The opportunity to make this theatre sing again, like it did in 1766.

Some more photos from inside the refurbishment. As you can see, things are beginning to arrive in bubble wrap, which must mean that the lion's share of dirty, loud and dangerous work is out of the way.

Here's the first in a series of posts where we ask key people involved in the refurbishment four questions about the project. First up, Sarah Smith, Project Director:

What has been the most surprising discovery for you during this process?

We've discovered so much about the auditorium during the refurbishment - in particular, the original flag-stone floor under the stage, the original level of the Pit (stalls).  It's been fascinating discussing how these discoveries inform our knowledge of this history of the theatre with the archaeologists.

What has been the most exciting moment for you so far?

Exposing the timbers of the roof and finding them in pretty good condition after 245 years.

What are you looking forward to most?

I think completing the work in the auditorium and seeing the reaction of our audiences when we re-open.

What’s the best thing about your role on the project?

The privelege of being involved in the refurbishment of the oldest working theatre in the country.

Found in the auditorium during the refurbishment

Here are the latest photos from inside the refurbishment, taken by Farrows Creative. We're now one year into the project, and as you can see, things are beginning to take shape.

Let's start in the rehearsal rooms.  You may remember that we used to have a rather drab concrete box as a rehearsal room.  To really get a feel of what that space was like, have a read of this rather brilliant blog by Tim Atack back in 2009 when he was making the Bristol Old Vic/Theatre Bristol-commissioned Buzzard.  We particularly like the idea of Helen Mirren's DNA clogging up the blades of an incredibly dusty extractor fan.

But we're now very close to having not one, but two very lovely new spaces (the other one is where the wardrobe department used to be).  These are both double height spaces.with sprung floors and lots of natural light.  Have a look: 

Outside the rehearsal room, here's a shot of the new offices, which have been opened up from being five or six small offices into one big open plan space. Moving up into the roof of the auditorium, which has been completely retiled and insulated, you can still seed the original timber frame and various scrawled graffiti from the stagehands of yesteryear...  And underneath all that, the new seating rake is being installed in the auditorium.  Here's the view from the pit just in front of the stage.

Here's the latest article from Bristol Evening Post on the refurbishment. Natalie Hale chats to Andy McGoldrick, Senior Project Manager at construction firm Galliford Try.

This is how loud the drilling was here at Bristol Old Vic in the last couple of weeks!