Young Vic rehoused in TV studio

BBC News

Young Vic rehoused in TV studio

The Young Vic theatre company has found a new temporary home at television studios previously used to film Michael Barrymore's My Kind of Music.

Artistic director David Lan said ITV London had given it the south London studios "practically for nothing".

The company will use the studios, in Kennington, as a base while the theatre in nearby Waterloo is restored.

The studios also hosted the first series of Pop Idol and Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right.

The £12.5m restoration of the Young Vic's YV auditorium and the reconstruction of the building - to include a new 140-seat studio theatre - is set to cost £12.5m and take two years.

During this period, the theatre is planning a "Walkabout" season, taking its productions on tour around the UK, Europe and the US from 19 July.

The programme will include a new production of acclaimed community opera Tobias and the Angel and Rufus Norris' dark classic, Sleeping Beauty.

Essential move

The company will have the use of five rehearsal studios and a suite of offices at the Kennington Park studios, to be used for administration and pre-production work and for the company's collaboration with young directors.

Mr Lan said the move was essential for the company's survival: "If we don't rebuild, our theatre will disappear."

The theatre has mounted a star-studded campaign to raise the money needed to pay for the restoration, headed by actor Jude Law.

So far, the campaign has raised 85% of the money, with £1.5m still to find.

Other backers include Joseph Fiennes, Prunella Scales and author Gitta Sereny.

Mr Lan said he said he was "delighted" with the level of support the campaign had attracted.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/3877467.stm
Published: 2004/07/08 15:01:58 GMT
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