Designing a theatre by Jez Bond

12th June 2010

Designing and building a theatre within an existing structure – in this case an old office block – is not without its difficulties. Certainly it requires a great deal of planning, a phenomenal amount of adaptability and more than a spoonful of experience. Art is about pushing the boundaries, but in order to achieve the construction of this magical space where live art occurs, there are some rules which cannot be broken. At The Park Theatre, however, we are doing things a little differently writes Jez Bond, its Artistic Director.

Hughes Jones Farrell are a small firm of passionate and enthusiastic architects. The three partners came together after having worked for a larger London firm and decided to set up on their own to bring together their varied and experienced skills – and, perhaps, do things their way. Currently working from a studio in trendy Southwark, they are looking to move to larger premises. They have a few big commercial clients and one of the larger schemes they designed has just been approved by the local planning authority. Oh… and they have never designed a theatre before.

This being the first question most people ask, I am now accustomed to the seemingly obligatory sucking of teeth that follows my response. However, like Hughes Jones Farrell, I haven’t always done things traditionally and challenging the norm seems to be engrained in my psyche. As a guest director to a large regional theatre I was urged against casting a dame who’d “never played a dame before”. Personally I felt that someone with no ‘dame experience’ would facilitate the fresh approach I was looking for – I didn’t want an old hand bringing preconceived ideas to the table as I knew I was going to turn the production on its head. The idea inherent in not casting someone because they they hadn’t played the part before just seemed ludicrous – how did the first guy ever get the part? Follow this to its logical conclusion and you conjure up an image of octogenarian dames performing at venues over the UK from December to January. Perhaps when they die, we’ll recast… [The actor in question was superb, incidentally, and the production received extremely favourable notices.]

Honestly though, building theatre is a tricky business – not the least because there are no formulas to what makes that magic space, to what defines the perfect relationship between actor and audience. The point is that to get it right a vast amount of experience is necessary. I don’t believe, however, that this database of knowledge needs lie with the architects. Pooling together a number of resources, Dave Hughes and I have been working closely for the past 9 months, the relationship akin to that of a director working with a set designer. Hughes can design something, dissect it, dismantle it and, sometimes, reject it with ease. That is not to say he is flippant, far from it, just that he is not precious. The most important thing for him is that the design is right. It is because of this that we are able to have such a deep relationship on this project. But of course we’re aware of the fact that it takes more than the two of us to get it right.

We have been extremely meticulous in sharing our plans with as many professionals as possible in order to glean all the feedback we can. Many notes have been taken on board and the design has progressed like a chameleon, changing its colours while maintaining its core. We have met with user groups of the space such as; set designers, lighting designers, sound designers, actors, musicians, workshop leaders, producers and stage managers (to name a few). We are extremely privileged to have received advice from a number of theatre consultants including Christopher Richardson, Will Bowen and Steve Roberts. We are also grateful to the Donmar Warehouse, the Barbican Pit, the Orange Tree, the Cottesloe and the Pleasance, amongst others, for showing us around and talking us through the way their stages and buildings at large operate.

Hughes Jones Farrell have never played the dame. But if they had, I keep getting the feeling that the whole process wouldn’t be anywhere near as enjoyable for either of us. I thrive in my role of director – I enjoy the mercurial element of the job and the constant learning curve that keeps my brain engaged. Both Hughes and his colleague Ben Jones, who is now starting to take a larger role as the scheme progresses, are passionately committed to the project and to learning more through the collaborative process. I imagine they will go on to design more in this sector – I know there are many companies out there who would queue round the block for an opportunity to work with an architect in this way. We’re still a long way off though, and I suspect that until it is built – and possibly for years after – people will continue to ask the question: “have your architects designed a theatre before?” To which I might simply smile and refer them to these words…

Jez Bond, Artistic Director

Source: Park Theatre, London