Our touring production of Gross und Klein (Big and Small)is soon to finish up at The Barbican in London after receiving a warm welcome from the centre's audiences. In this second chapter in our series of profiles of international venues, we look at the evolution of this British cultural institution.
The website for The Barbican repeatedly uses the image of a
phoenix rising from the ashes to describe the birth of the arts
centre, and it is an apt description. The arts centre - one of the
largest in the world - is situated in the centre of a major estate
in the middle of London that also includes residential apartment
towers, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a library, a vast
artificial pond and a school, and was heavily bombed during the
Second World War. It took a long time for the city to get back on
its feet, and it was even longer major construction projects could
be seriously considered. After first looking to use the land for
industrial purposes, development proposals were considered at
length by the City of London in the early 1950s, with the Minister
for Housing Duncan Sandys finally approving the use of the site as
a residential neighbourhood in 1956. The architects Chamberlin,
Powell and Bon were charged with the task of designing the
residential buildings, which were completed in 1968, and their
successful adoption of the Brutalist style of architecture lead to
them being offered the contract to design the arts centre as well,
despite their lack of experience designing entertainment
venues.
Construction of the site was repeatedly delayed by unforeseen
issues, such as the discovery of a plague pit filled with hundreds
of remains that needed to be moved and reburied, but by 1971 the
concrete was pouring and the build was on its way. Overseen by the
newly appointed centre director Henry Wrong, the progress was slow
and the centre was not opened until more than a decade later, in
1982. The arts centre featured a major concert hall, theatre
venues, an art gallery and cinemas, in addition to restaurants,
conference venues and exhibition halls, and was the new home to the
London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In the 30 years since The Barbican opened, the organisation has
been through several renovations (including improvements to the
acoustics in The Barbican Hall), changes in management and
significant shifts in programming priorities. In 1997 the RSC
reduced its residency to six months of the year, leading to the
creation of Barbican International Theatre Events (BITE), which
filled in the rest of the program and eventually became a
year-round arrangement in 2002 following the departure of the RSC.
BITE has given the Barbican team the opportunity to work on
producing new work and to form strong co-producing ties with local
and international companies.
Alex Lalak
Gross und
Klein (Big and Small)plays
at The Barbicanuntil 29 April, before
touring to Vienna and Recklinghausen.