everyman theatre redevelopment after arts council england grant

By Catherine Jones on Jul 24, 09 06:00 AM

Arts Council England has pledged a whopping £12.8m towards the redevelopment of the Everyman Theatre.
That's a substantial chunk of the £28m needed to knock down and rebuild the famous theatrical lady of Hope Street.

Theatre bosses are now all steam ahead to draw up detailed plans, although work isn't likely to get started until spring 2011.
There will be some who will be sorry to see the theatre, with its wonderful history, go. But I understand that those who work there relish the idea of having more than a cupboard to swing a cat in.
I was given a tour of the theatre, front and backstage, by executive director Deborah Aydon, a little while ago.
There is very little room to move behind the scenes, making the work of the technical crew as well as the actors even more amazing.
In these disability conscious times, it's also not DDA compliant and I understand the theatre would be keen to make itself 100% accessible to not simply disabled audiences but performers too.
They have pledged that what David Morrissey described to me last night as the "intimacy and rapport" of the auditorium will be replicated in the new design. Let's hope so because that's one of the things that makes the Everyman the unique place it is.
One of the other legendary parts of the venue is the Everyman bistro in the basement, and that will also be recreated.
I'd welcome feedback from people about these plans. See the Echo today for the full details.......