This book charts a twenty-year period in theatre design that maps the growth of large-scale adaptable theatre through Charcoalblue's work, alongside the world's leading architects. From the remaking of London's Young Vic Theatre in the mid-2000s, through larger scale projects for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and many other cultural organisations worldwide, the practice have provided specialist expertise, collaborating with and mindful of everyone in the business, from actors and musicians, producers and directors, to engineers and architects. Highly illustrated with photos and drawings, the book includes sections on adaptable theatres, temporary spaces, anti-culture palaces, theatrical transformations, and hidden gems. Each case study provides insightful analysis. There are sections which focus on updating historic theatres and creating performance spaces for leading academic institutions. The book also includes useful technical sections which focus on acoustics, digital environments and even a section which discusses developing seating. It also features for the first time an analysis of the Perelman Center at the World Trade Center - David Lan, former director of the Young Vic and advisor to Manhattan's Perelman theatre, contributes a Foreword - and the forthcoming American Repertory Theatre. The 'crazy adventures' of Harry Potter at the Lyric Theatre on Broadway and the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse in London are revealed. It also looks to the future of theatre, as the practice explores new territory in virtual and digital scapes, and discusses changes to space, materials, performance and presentation, as well as how Charcoalblue's skills in venue design are extending their work beyond the cultural space into contemporary working environments.
Hugh Pearman was the architecture and design critic for The Sunday Times for 30 years and (overlapping with this) the editor of the RIBA Journal. His previous books include About Architecture (Yale University Press, 2023), Cullinan Studio in the 21st Century (Lund Humphries, 2020), Equilibrium: the work of Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners (Phaidon, 2000), Airports: a century of architecture (Laurence King, 2004) and Contemporary World Architecture (Phaidon, 1998). He has contributed to many others including A Gendered Profession (RIBA Publishing, 2016). He writes for many media ranging from Royal Academy magazine and The Spectator to Architectural Record in the United States. He is an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA and in 2019 he was made an MBE for services to architecture. He is currently Chair of the 20th Century Society.
Foreword by David Lan. Introduction. 1. Adaptable Theatres. Aside: developing a seat; 2. Temporary Theatres. Aside: Liverpool Everyman; 3. Against the Culture Palace; 4. Theatrical Transformations; 5. Hidden Gems; 6. Crazy Adventures; 7. Two Grandes Dames; 8. Academic Powerhouses; 9. Of Sound Mind; 10. CBX Parallel Universe
