By Grace Hatchell
There I was, minding my own business on my rounds, when I noticed something rather fancy going on at the Arts Theatre Cambridge.
Now, strictly speaking, stopping to investigate theatre news isn’t included in my postal duties.
But neither is ignoring a spectacular great mural when somebody has gone to all that trouble.
So the letters could wait five minutes.
Probably.
The Arts Theatre Cambridge has unveiled a spectacular new mural across its safety curtain as part of celebrations marking the theatre’s 90th anniversary and its ongoing redevelopment.
And when I say they’ve decorated the curtain, we’re not talking about somebody turning up with a roller and a leftover tin of magnolia.
They’ve brought in internationally acclaimed theatre designer Tom Piper.
Which feels slightly excessive for a curtain.
I approve entirely.
The safety curtain has been part of the Arts Theatre for more than 30 years, rising before thousands of performances. Rather than simply leaving it as a functional bit of theatre machinery, the venue has transformed it into a permanent artistic installation and a centrepiece of its newly refurbished auditorium.
Piper is rather more qualified for the job than I would have been with a paintbrush and an optimistic attitude.
His career includes work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, theatre, opera and large-scale public art, and he was co-creator of the famous Tower of London poppies installation.
But there’s also a rather lovely bit of history behind his involvement.
Piper’s relationship with the Arts Theatre stretches all the way back to his student days at Trinity College, Cambridge. He designed productions at the venue including The Marlowe Society’s Cyrano de Bergerac, which featured Tom Hollander and was directed by a young Sam Mendes.
Whatever happened to those two, eh?
The new mural itself is based on an abstract digital watercolour and pen-and-ink-style interpretation of the theatre’s auditorium.
Rather cleverly, it depicts the energy of a full house, with audiences represented across the stalls and circle. It also incorporates features of the newly refurbished auditorium, including its curved balcony, slip seating and warm maple-clad panelling.
So essentially, you’re sitting in the audience looking at a painting of an audience sitting in the theatre.
Theatre inception.
I’ve stared at the photographs for quite some time and I haven’t found a tiny Grace sitting in there yet, but I’ll keep looking.
And while the original concept came from Piper, actually transferring something like that onto a whopping great steel safety curtain is another matter entirely.
Scenic artists Chris and Liz Clark helped bring the design to life. With more than three decades of experience creating painted scenery and backdrops for theatre, film and television at Elstree Studios, they spent several weeks preparing the curtain and recreating Piper’s artwork by hand.
Traditional scenic painting techniques were combined with colour matching, spray work and layers of brushwork to capture the atmosphere and tones of the auditorium.
Which does make my occasional attempts at home decorating look rather inadequate.
Rachel Tackley, Co-Chief Executive and Creative Director of The Arts Theatre Cambridge, described the artwork as a celebration of both the theatre’s redevelopment and its 90th anniversary, saying the installation represents the connection between audiences, artists and the stories being shared on stage.
And that idea is really at the heart of Piper’s design.
Speaking about becoming involved in the theatre’s redevelopment, he said:
“For me, it’s very exciting to get involved with the redevelopment of the theatre, seeing it come back to life.”
For Piper, the finished artwork is also a reminder of what theatre ultimately comes down to: “being a live audience, in a live space, sharing a story with live human beings.”
And he’s right.
We spend an awful lot of time talking about productions, actors, directors, reviews and awards, but none of it really works without somebody sitting in those seats.
Preferably somebody who remembered to turn their phone off.
The curtain is only one part of a much bigger transformation taking place at the Arts Theatre Cambridge.
The first phase of its redevelopment has included refurbishing the main auditorium alongside improvements to the audience experience and backstage facilities. But there are even bigger plans waiting in the wings.
Phase two includes proposals for a new 200-seat rooftop studio theatre.
Now you’ve got my attention.
The proposed space is intended to provide somewhere for new and ambitious work, support emerging theatre-makers and create new connections between artists, audiences and the wider community.
That’s exactly the sort of development I like to hear about.
A shiny auditorium is lovely. A beautiful safety curtain is lovely. But creating more space where emerging artists can actually make and present work?
Even better.
The theatre itself has quite a history to build upon.
Founded in 1936 by John Maynard Keynes, the Arts Theatre Cambridge has spent 90 years as part of the city’s cultural life, bringing together audiences, artists and ideas. Today it operates as an independent charity and presents a programme spanning drama, musicals, comedy and family productions.
The new mural therefore feels like quite an appropriate birthday present.
It celebrates what the theatre has been while, quite literally, painting a picture of what makes a theatre matter in the first place: people gathering together to experience something.
And if you fancy seeing how they managed to transform a steel curtain into all of this, the theatre has also produced behind-the-scenes films, including a 17-minute Meet the Makers interview with Tom Piper and Chris Clark and a time-lapse showing the curtain’s transformation.
Visitors can see the finished safety curtain before performances at the Arts Theatre Cambridge from 18 August.
As for me, I suppose I’d better get back to my round.
Those letters aren’t going to deliver themselves.
Although if anybody else has installed a giant theatrical mural somewhere along my route, I can’t be held responsible for delays.
Grace x
Home — The Arts Theatre Cambridge
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