The Shed at the National Theatre

Last week I had the opportunity to go to a pre-opening preview night at London’s latest pop-up theatre, The Shed. It was great night, not least due to the launch of the new foyer bar, glimpses of the upcoming season and an insight into the inspiration for the space and the ambitions the National has for it over the next 18 months.

If you have been walking along the South Bank or bussing across Waterloo Bridge you may have noticed the imposing red structure that has arisen alongside the National Theatre. Named The Shed, the temporary venue has been built in response to the closing of the Cottesloe Theatre, which will reopen in 18 months as the Dorfman, after extensive renovation as part of NT Future. However, the Shed isn’t intended as a replacement to the Cottesloe, as Ben Power, Associate Director, stated at the preview, the aim of the space will be to “celebrat[e] new theatre that is adventurous, ambitious and unexpected”.

The Space

The structure is located alongside the main NT building in Theatre Square. The decision to  locate it onsite, rather than finding somewhere else, was made because of Nick Hytner‘s wish that the lessons of the experiment will translate inside to the permanent spaces. The architects, Haworth Tomkins, have been successful in achieving a connection with the main building, whilst establishing a separate,  fresh and exciting identity, the wood paneling is reminiscent of the wood patterning of the main building, for example. In addition, the foyer area, which repurposes the once-external overhang of the terrace above opens in onto the building. This has the effect of drawing attention to the waffle-style ceiling that is employed through the concrete structure. The bar and foyer space, is spacious, but not impersonal. Red lighting and plywood furniture is used to great effect. The space feels young, welcoming, well-thought out, contrasting quite effectively with the interconnected Lyttelton foyer.

I can’t go into too much detail about the inside of the space itself at the moment, but sufficed to say, again the architects have understood well the intricacies of designing a theatre. The space will hold 225, in semi-flexible arrangement with a balcony. The ‘stage’ space is about eight-metre cubed, which is perfect for the scale of productions intended. And the acoustics are great, as demonstrated by a range of snippets from the upcoming shows, including, song and monologue.

The Shows

The preview opened with music from Little Bulb Theatre Company, which was a mix of club jazz and chanson, and they delighted with upbeat numbers through the evening’s proceedings. They have a show called Orpheus which is coming up at the Battersea Arts Centre in the Summer, before bringing a production the Shed in the Autumn.

Next up were two songs that will form part of the first production to be held in the Shed, Table. Written by Tanya Ronder, and directed by Rufus Norris, the play will explore family life, identity and the things we pass on. The songs we heard were moving, and were an excellent demonstration of the space’s acoustics. It opens on 9 April.

After an interval to test the bar, and in-going and out-going procedures, we heard a verbatim monologue that will form part of Home, which is being developed by Nadia Fall. The piece was developed from interviews that Nadia has been conducting, and in the excerpt we saw combined a moving account of coming to terms was sexuality combined with a great rendition of Beyoncé’s Halo.

The highlight of my evening, however, was the reading of an extract from a new one-man play by Tim Price. The piece was still in the early stages of development and won’t appear on stage until December. All we know for now is that it will portray a 45-year-old, homeless Mancunian. There wasn’t one of those on hand last week, so the excellent Kate O’Flynn (Port at the NT) was drafted in to read the part. And it was excellent. Kate, was excellent in Port and brought the same heart-warming and humorous human fallibility to this piece. It almost made me wish that she could just do the whole thing.

To Conclude

This is a only a glimpse of what is going to come out of this new space. Not only in terms of the productions that will be presented, but in the way it will change the attitude and ethos of the National Theatre. When combined with a more accesible ticketing regime I think it will be successful in attracting new audiences. As a forerunner to the completion of the NT Future project I hope that what is learned from The Shed will inform the transformation of the public spaces of the rest of the theatre.

Other things to expect from the next year:

• Bullet Catch written and performed by Rob Drummond from 21 May;
• Mission Drift created by the TEAM, with Heather Christian & Sarah Gancher from 5 June;
• The NT’s Connections Festival of new plays performed by young people;
• Rory Mullarkey’s The Grandfathers from 2012 Connections;
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a new version for young audiences by Ben Power, directed by Bijan Sheibani.