PERFORMANCE BOOSTERS 123
FANS OF LIVE THEATRE and music have been holding their collective breath over the last three years, waiting to see if beloved arts venues and the vast body of mostly freelance professional talent would survive the devastating loss of revenues and gigs caused by sustained closures. By winter 2021, that held breath had turned into a massive sigh of relief. With fingers still tightly crossed against further pandemic crackdowns, the sector appears to have survived and proved both its creativity and resilience.
Summer 2021 saw a tentative resurgence of festivals in the gaps between lockdowns, while summer 2022 saw outdoor activity flourish on a larger scale, with over 900 festivals small and large planned in the UK alone, including the return of Glastonbury. Have music festivals bounced back, asked presenter Shahida Bari on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, on 21 June? Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic said he was busier than ever, with new large events added. However, Paul Reed, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals confirmed an estimated 975 festivals are happening regularly in the UK, though with a core of 194 festivals with a capacity of 5,000 or more. Of that core group, 91 per cent of them were going ahead in 2022, when last year 53 per cent were cancelled or postponed – though he did warn of continuing ‘very difficult trading conditions.’
chamber ensemble, thanks to retractable seating at the lower level. Seilern’s efforts were more than repaid when the Berlin Philharmonic agreed to play its opening concert. Having been lucky enough to attend that concert, I can vouch for it as the most immersive, sensorily-thrilling live music experience, enriched by the ability to sit back and watch clouds or snow move across the sky as you surrender to the music being played just a few feet away.
Client Andermatt Swiss Alps and BESIX
Architect Studio Seilern Architects Area GEA 2,072 sq m
Budget 11 million Swiss Francs
Acoustic Consultant Kahle Acoustics
Theatre Consultant Ducks Sceno
Structural Engineering Suisseplan MEP BESIX
Landscape Design Hager Contractor BESIX
Acrylic foyer wall Seen and Acrylic Couture Lighting Iguzzini Glass Facade Ruch
Seating and retractable tribune Figueras
Top left The 12m ceiling height in the main auditorium enhances acoustics for a more immersive experience
Left Anyone can walk up to the glass to gaze inside the wood-panelled auditorium, whether a performance is taking place or not
In the interim, there has also been a flourishing of pop-up stages that transformed parks, farms, forests and public plazas into temporary outdoor venues. And some of these al fresco art hubs look likely to become permanent fixtures. After all, if we have learned anything from the pandemic, it is that the threat is likely to remain a constant, given the high- speed, global nature of the way we live, shop and trade. Te Crawick Multiverse – part land art, part amphitheatre created by Charles Jencks in the Scottish borders – introduced a two-day festival in summer 2021 of folk, traditional and classical music featuring musicians from Dumfries, Galloway and Ayrshire. Tis festival was repeated for 2022, albeit moving the dates to early September. Torington Teatre in Suffolk is a brand new venue, constructed for summer 2021, utilising a crater left by two World War II bombs in the privately owned woodland setting of Mark and Lindy O’Hare. Initiated and now run by this duo, the theatre was built from locally sourced coppiced timber and opened last year with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by children from the local Minnie Mouse theatre group. Its programme is going strong so far in summer 2022. Shropshire farmer Tim Ashton dug out an earthen amphitheatre in one of his fields to host shows of the same Shakespeare favourite by the National Youth Teatre in September 2021, as well as a production of Animal Farm – fitting, given the location.
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