The Thekla
Thekla | |
Bristol England | |
Coordinates | 51°26′57″N 2°35′43″W / 51.44917°N 2.59518°W |
---|---|
Designation | Showboat |
Capacity | Variable |
Current use | Music venue |
Production | Visiting performances |
Opened | 1984 |
Website | |
www |
Thekla is a former cargo ship moored in the Mud Dock area of
In 1982 the ship was bought by
Construction and working life
Built in Yard No. 185, Thekla was launched on 12 July 1958 by Büsumer-Schiffswerft W & E Sielaff at
Thekla was a
Converting a ship into a showboat
The Stanshalls bought the ship with a government-guaranteed loan.
For the next two and a half years, The Old Profanity Showboat put on over 240 theatrical productions. To support its theatre and cabaret (which seldom paid for itself), the Old Pro also provided a stage for bands. Within a year, the Old Pro was in use as a small theatre, jazz venue, folk club and cabaret.[10]
By early 1986, Ki had become exhausted and wanted to go back to writing novels, and Vivian wanted to renew his recording career, and in August 1986 the showboat stopped putting on shows.
Throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Thekla was taken over and run as an underground nightclub.[11]
Work by the artist
A refurbishment of the ship was completed in October 2006 after being purchased by Daybrook House Promotions (DHP). It remains at the moorings in central Bristol where it was first positioned in 1983 and continues to function as a music venue and nightclub. Artists such as
A further £1m refurbishment of the ship took place in the summer of 2019.[17] For the extensive repairs, the venue was towed away from its historic spot in the harbour to Albion Drydock. The repairs included a brand new steel offset hull, which was welded into place around the original hull. During this time the venue had to close, and took up temporary residency as "Thekla Faraway" in a bar on Small St in central Bristol - where its regular club nights continued until it was able to re-open in September that year. In 2020, the venue was forced to temporarily close as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In accordance with government guidelines, the venue was able to periodically reopen for socially distant "Sit Down Sessions" of its regular club nights. The venue fully re-opened in July 2021.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Thekla is still moored in Bristol's Floating Harbour where she was docked in 1983. Today she is used as a venue for bands and club nights.
- ^ No advertisements were ever placed anywhere. No one was ever actually interviewed and formally "hired." Thekla's people either came from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, or as customers ... and kept returning until a place was found for them.
- ^ The Bristol production of Stinkfoot was celebrated in print with Stinkfoot:An English Comic Opera by Sea Urchin Editions, with full script, song lyrics, cast, artwork by Stanshall, and an introduction by Ki.
- ^ It was not, he insisted, about Christmas, or for Christmas, and it certainly was not a pantomime, a very British style of entertainment traditionally put on in theatres over the Christmas period.
- ^ Stanshall called it his "awkestra"
References
- ^ a b c d "Thekla – Küstenmotorschiff – Bau Nr. 185". Büsumer-Werft (in German). Dieter A Sattler. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Thekla". Miramar Ship Index (subscription required). R B Haworth, Welloington, New Zealand. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Old Profanity 2". Ginger Geezer. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Viv Stanshall: Bristol's eccentric genius and Thekla 'captain'". Bristol Post. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "M. V. Thekla". The Broadcasting Fleet. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- .
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (Winter 2012). "Magic, mischief and madness" (PDF). Shipshape: 23–25.
- ^ "Viv Stanshall: Bristol's eccentric genius and Thekla 'captain'". Bristol Post. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "Listings 30 September 1984". BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ "Historic Ship Gets Turbosound Makeover". Ziogiorgio. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "History". Thekla. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "Banksy's Grim Reaper goes on display at M Shed". Bristol Museums Galleries and Archives. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 January 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Stormzy". Thekla Bristol. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "Phoebe Bridgers". Thekla Bristol. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "James Marriott". Thekla Bristol. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Restoration". Thekla Bristol. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
General references
- Venue: 24 Apr – edition of 3 May 2009, Bristol's "What's On" magazine.
- The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, A Fairytale of Grimm Art, by Ki Longfellow-Stanshall.
External links
- Official website
- The Bristol Showboat Saga by Tony Staveacre, Omnibus, BBC 1, 1984 (YouTube)