Battersea Arts Centre
| |
Coordinates | 51°27′53″N 0°09′39″W / 51.4648°N 0.1607°W |
---|---|
Public transit | ![]() ![]() |
Owner | BAC Trust |
Designation | Grade II* listed |
Type | Producing house |
Capacity | 640 (500 Grand Hall; 140 Lower Hall) |
Construction | |
Opened | 1981 |
Architect | E. W. Mountford |
Website | |
www |
The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a
In March 2015, while a major programme of renovation works were underway, the Grand Hall was severely damaged by fire. Approximately 70% of the theatre, including the 200-capacity Council Chamber, the Scratch Bar and the Members Library, was saved from the fire and remains open.
The building is now used for theatre shows, weddings, filming, shoots and meeting room hire.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Battersea_Town_Hall.jpg/220px-Battersea_Town_Hall.jpg)
The building, designed in 1891 by
Bertrand Russell's essay Why I Am Not a Christian was originally given as a talk in the hall, on 6 March 1927, under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society.[citation needed]
Following proposals by
Organ
In 1901, a large pipe organ was installed in the Grand Hall by
Arts centre
The building became a community arts centre in 1974. BAC currently[when?] receives grants towards the building's operating costs from Arts Council England and the London Borough of Wandsworth, among others. The centre is a registered charity.[6] The theatre was founded in 1981.[7]
Following the departure of Tom Morris in 2003,
BAC operates a "scratch" methodology as part of its "ladder of development" for new work. Performances are shown at various stages of development to an outside audience, whose input and criticism guides the further evolution of the work.
Past productions
- Punchdrunk Theatre Company's promenade performance of "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe ran through most of the building from September 2007 to April 2008. The performance was interactive, and was seen by over 400,000 people over its seven-month sellout run.[10] Since audience members were required to wear masks throughout the performance, a number of famous actors attended the play anonymously, including Jeff Goldblum and Joanna Lumley.[12]
- Richard Thomas's early work as Kombat Opera, including Tourette's Diva, leading to the development of Jerry Springer - The Opera, which premièred at BAC in 2002, before transferring to the Royal National Theatre.[13][14]
- Jackson's Way, the winner of the 2004
Use in film and TV
The old Town Hall was used as a location in the 1975 film
On 8 and 9 October 2012, the pop band McFly used the location to film a video for their single Love Is Easy.[12]
The
Beer festival
Every February since 1991, the BAC has hosted the three-day-long Battersea Beer Festival.[20]
Murders
On 31 January 1998,, the Annual Rockers Reunion was held at the centre.[21] Members of the Outcasts Motorcycle Club served as the security at the reunion.[21] In a coordinated attack via microphone headsets, about 40 members of the Hells Angels from various chapters all over England arrived uninvited at the reunion armed with baseball bats, knives, iron bars and machetes.[21] The Hells Angels proceeded to attack and beat various Outcasts.[21] Two of the Outcasts, David Armstrong and Malcolm St. Clair, were killed during the melee.[21] Only one Hells Angel was convicted of charges relating to the incident. Ronald "Gut" Wait, the vice president of the Angels Essex chapter, was convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.[22]
Fire
On 13 March 2015, during a major renovation programme, a fire broke out in the roof, and engulfed the building, causing severe structural damage, including the collapse of the tower. The Grand Hall and Lower Hall were destroyed.[23] No injuries were reported.[24]
The fire was tackled by about 80 London Fire Brigade firefighters and 12 fire engines.[25] Firefighters were able to save a large part of the building including several of the smaller theatre spaces. Two shows went ahead as planned one day after the fire,[26] and BAC has maintained much of its artistic programme, despite losing the ability to hire out the larger venues (a significant source of income).
Jubb launched a fundraising campaign to help the centre soon afterwards.,[23] and in May announced that during the rebuilding of the Grand Hall, BAC would also create a large off-site theatre from mid-2016 to end of 2017 "for the presentation of visionary and exciting new theatre while we rebuild the Grand Hall".[27]
In 2018, the rebuilding of the Grand Hall was completed, overseen by architects
References
- ^ a b c Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1184293)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- ^ Saint 2013, p. 13.
- ^ Thom 2013, p. 22.
- ^ Victorian Society Annual Report 1967-68, London 1968 p.10-11
- National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ "Battersea Arts Centre, registered charity no. 282857". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Whatsonstage.com report of Micklem's departure".
- ^ "Playground Projects". playgroundprojects.bac.org.uk.
- ^ a b Wiegand, Chris (12 October 2018). "Battersea Arts Centre seeks new artistic director after David Jubb stands down". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "New artistic director of Battersea Arts Centre is Tarek Iskander". The Guardian. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ a b "10 things you didn't know about Battersea Arts Centre". Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Jerry Springer the Opera/Kombat Opera, Battersea Arts". The Independent. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Richard Thomas". Music Theatre International. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Review: Jackson's Way, Battersea Arts Centre - A Younger Theatre". A Younger Theatre. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "The Edinburgh festival 2004 -- Perrier Awards 2004". www.edinburghguide.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "The rapid rise of Perrier winner". 29 August 2004. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ Monkey, Silver. "Reelstreets | Slade in Flame (aka Flame)". www.reelstreets.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Battersea Arts Centre invite you to the filming of Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year". Wandsworth Times. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "24th Battersea Beer Festival". Battersea Beer Festival. CAMRAswl. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Sher & Marsden 2006, p. 291.
- ^ Sher & Marsden 2006, p. 292.
- ^ a b Jubb, David (14 March 2015). "Save Battersea Arts Centre". National Funding Scheme. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- London Evening Standard. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ^ Walker, Peter; Quinn, Ben; Rawlinson, Kevin (13 March 2015). "Fire severely damages Battersea Arts Centre in London". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- ^ "Battersea Arts Centre fire: Venue partly reopens". 15 March 2015 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "A new mission for Battersea Arts Centre and our next steps". Battersea Arts Centre: Blog. 25 May 2015.
- ^ Thorpe, Harriet (13 December 2019). "Battersea Arts Centre culminates a 12-year redesign in style". Wallpaper. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
Sources
- Saint, Andrew, ed. (2013). "1. Public Buildings". Survey of London, Volume 49: Battersea: Public, Commercial and Cultural (PDF). Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300196160.
- Thom, Colin, ed. (2013). "10. Lavender Hill: Introduction". Survey of London, Volume 50: Battersea: Houses and Housing (PDF). Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300196160.
- Sher, Julian; Marsden, William (2006). Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Empire of Crime. Toronto: Alfred Knopf Canada. ISBN 9780307370327.
External links
Media related to Battersea Arts Centre at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Battersea Arts Centre at Google Cultural Institute