HERITAGE
Storytelling Special
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER
Using your attraction as a stage set and building the momentum before a big reveal can help to increase the wow factor, says the UK National Trust’s Ben Cowell
Ben Cowell, regional director East of England, National Trust M
any new visitor attractions are highly theatrical in their design, so that guests experience plenty of wow factor. This is true, for example, of somewhere like
the Warner Bros Studio Tour London, where visitors begin their tour of the making of Harry Potter by entering the doors onto the set of Hogwarts’ Great Hall. Similarly, the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London is filled regularly by contemporary art installations, conceived on a grand scale. Experiences of these places often hinge around the reveal – the moment where the metaphorical stage curtains are drawn back and the set design is displayed for the first time.
LANDSCAPE DRAMA But there’s nothing new about this. Artists and architects have long integrated the- atrical elements into their work. Indeed, many famous 18th-century garden design- ers worked on the stage. Landscape designer Humphry Repton (1752-1818) had a fascination with the theatre, a nar- rative apparent in many of his plans for the grounds of country houses. Repton developed a unique method of illustrat- ing his designs by means of paper flaps in the pages of his famous Red Books. The flaps showed “before and after” views of
the landscapes he was commissioned to work on, so that landowners could visual- ise the changes he was proposing. Sheringham Park, on England’s North
n A view of Sheringham Park in Norfolk 46
Norfolk coast, was one of Repton’s favourite designs. Subtle planting schemes gave a sense of depth and vital- ity to the views, seen from a long drive towards the house at the centre. The drive travels along a high ridge before turning dramatically to reveal the house at Sheringham, designed by Repton’s son.
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This point in the park, the sudden turn in the path, is still called the reveal, and it continues to delight thousands of visitors each year, long since the idea was first conceived in 1812. Explaining the meaning of landscapes in this way is not at all easy. At Sheringham, we’ve done it with an exhibition placing Repton’s design in its context. It is located in a converted barn at the visitor reception, and the theatrical influences on Repton’s work are evident in the layout of the exhibition itself.
AM 4 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
Humphry Repton’s design shows the Sheringham Park landscape before his work and, by peeling back the flap, how it would look when completed
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