Exclusive: The Old Vic reveals first new performance space in 207 years
The Old Vic’s co-CEO Laura Stevenson talks to Morning Wire about the theatre’s new ‘Backstage’ development, which includes a new 100-seater theatre, and cafe and restaurant
Photo of Laura by Jonny Ruff
In The Old Vic theatre’s new 100-seater performance space, modern lighting rigs are fitted inches from wooden ceiling rafters dating back to the early 19th century.
Renovating this fabled theatre will inevitably fuse history with modernity, although there is not much else that feels old-fashioned about Backstage, the Old Vic’s hulking new attraction incorporating a new restaurant, bar and — yes — live performance venue.
It is the first time the theatre has been properly extended in its 207-year history, and the idea is that new and experimental work can be staged in the studio space. There are plenty of stories that the theatre would like to stage but not all of them suit the main 1,000-seater auditorium, and the new bar and restaurant (there are also new green room areas for performers and parts for corporate use) is exciting new placemaking for the theatre, says co-CEO Laura Stevenson, speaking exclusively to Morning Wire during the building’s soft launch phase.
But will the trendy new spot for daytime lattes (there are free-to-borrow playtexts in a library area) and nighttime cocktails be enough to tempt visitors in over competition from venues like the National Theatre and the BFI, a few minutes’ walk away on the Southbank?
“We don’t have a particular competitor, and I don’t want to take customers away from anywhere else, but I’m hoping we’re part of the theatre ecology,” says Stevenson. “The cut is a vibrant place. We want to be a civic space for the community and we hope locals will come in here and enjoy the facilities. It’s been a long-held ambition of The Old Vic to create a space for our education and community work, and to expand our front of house and our space for artists.”
Architects Haworth Tompkins won a competition to design the space, which has been decorated with salvaged barndoor theatre lighting to create a central atrium installation (these iconic pieces have also been painted and will become something of a fan hit on the front of the building, which was formerly a pub).
Tables are made from the scraps of ripped up programmes by a company called Smile Plastics and incorporate ripped up old programmes. Balconies from the main restaurant, bar and privately bookable rooftop space have views towards the London Eye. Soundscaping with absorbent floors made of natural rubber means everyone can hear themselves think. A new green room for the cast to relax in and educational spaces have been designed to aid the theatre’s mission to work more with the local community.
“By opening our doors in this way, either through the cafe workspace or through or our educational activities, we’re hoping to bring more people into our 207-year-old auditorium,” says Stevenson.
New performance space The Greene Studio inhabits an old rehearsal room and “allows us to take more risks,” although the programming is a far-off thought. It comes as current Artistic Director Matthew Warchus prepares to hand over to Rupert Goold, who is stepping into the role having been at the helm at The Almeida for the past 11 years.
Stevenson is dismissive when asked to look back to the controversy that surrounded Kevin Spacey’s appointment as Artistic Director at the theatre between 2004 and 2015, saying only that it “feels very much like we’re into the next chapter”.
Part of that next chapter is raising funds through philanthropy, as unlike the West End The Old Vic receives no regular government subsidies. An exception would be the £7.5m they received in “game-changing” loans from Lambeth and Southwark councils for this new extension (in total the theatre has raised £17m for the ‘Backstage’ project through box office, philanthropy and loans).
The venue relies on around £4m per year in philanthropic donations and Stevenson says she is “open” to ideas on how to develop their corporate funding, although she admits some elements of the refurbishment aren’t the sorts of sexy things wealthy individuals particularly like to put their name to.
While some donors have had Old Vic bars named after them, the CEO worries that “boiler replacements and window insulation are less appealing to sponsors.”
Stevenson says brightly, though, that some of the names you’d recognise from the stage have kindly helped raise some of the much-needed cash: “Tim Minchin has supported some of this new refit,” she says.
Morning Wire is sipping a latte with Stevenson in a privately bookable room adjacent to the new restaurant. On the menu: pre-theatre supper, breakfasts, sticky chicken teriyaki, butternut squash salad and aubergine parmigiana.
Of their funding split Stevenson says it is divided between box office, philanthropy and commercial income. One neat perk for City folk is the ability to stand on The Old Vic stage where Susan Sarandon is currently performing nightly and read out their pitch decks: suited folk can practice presentation skills under the white lights, “using theatre techniques to support day-to-day corporate skills”. The money raised from this will help the theatre’s Net Zero aim, helping “to make sure they’re sustained for the future”.
Stevenson walks me between the new restaurant and the main 1,000-seater performance space in around 30 seconds, and has a huge smile on her face, waving her arms up into the air: “Now everything’s under one roof, people can really feel a connection to the building.”
Go to oldvictheatre.com/backstage