City News

Birmingham Repertory Theatre has confirmed that it plans to continue producing work as the major joint capital development with the new Library of Birmingham moves forward over the next four years. 

The development offers many exciting opportunities for the theatre to update its Centenary Square home and also to programme an imaginative artistic programme outside of the theatre whilst the building work takes place.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre announced in October 2007 that it will link to the £193 million Library of Birmingham project which is to be built next door to the theatre. By being part of the development The REP will be able to enhance the identity of its much loved building whilst also improving and expanding its facilities.

The development work to the theatre will include: restoring its unique 1971 façade to its original condition and replace the glazing to improve energy efficiency; building a new shared 300 seat flexible studio theatre to complement the theatre’s existing auditoria; remodelling the existing foyers, restaurant, café and bar to create a more accessible, welcoming and comfortable environment for customers, plus the provision of new conference suites; a full refurbishment of the theatre’s backstage facilities including new rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, workshops, offices  and apartments for visiting creative teams. This will be the first major development of the theatre’s backstage facilities since it opened in 1971 and will vastly improve facilities for staff and artists.

To facilitate the extensive building work the company will move out of its Centenary Square home in 2011 until completion of the project in 2013. First work on the building will, however, start early in 2010 with the demolition of the workshop, rehearsal rooms and conference suites housed in the extension to the main theatre. These will be relocated off site with the remaining departments moving out of the building by early 2011.

Productions will still continue at The REP throughout 2009 and 2010. Then, from 2011 the theatre will produce work elsewhere in the city, as Stuart Rogers, Executive Director explains:

“As we announced at the time of the Library of Birmingham launch The REP building is likely to have to close for approximately two years from the beginning of 2011.  The REP will be continuing to produce work over that period elsewhere in the city, however, and both the City Council and Arts Council England have committed funding to enable that to happen.
The two years will give us a chance both to work in other existing venues in the city and to create innovative site-specific pieces of work. Our Artistic Director Rachel Kavanaugh and I are currently in conversation with a range of writers, directors, actors and theatre companies together with other venues in the city about what we might be able to create in that period. This offers us an amazing opportunity artistically but also gives us the opportunities to build new relationships, creative partnerships and audience awareness from which we will benefit when the building reopens.”

Whilst the company is working off-site the staff structure will need to be adapted to reflect the very different operating model, and not all current posts will continue as they are.  In the longer term, it is possible that The REP will need an increase in its total staff levels to operate the new building with an additional auditorium, and an initial study into the impact of the new studio is currently underway.

That new 300 seat studio theatre will enable The REP to significantly expand the range of shows that it can produce, being a comfortable fit between its current 816 seat main house and the 140 seats in its small auditorium, The Door. The new space will also help The REP to both co-produce with and present work by a range of mid-scale companies whose work is currently not seen in Birmingham, as well as developing an interesting creative partnership with the Library.