The opening of Bristol’s Theatre Royal, the Old Vic, in May 1766 could not be described as an event that would be upstaged by anything or anyone. It was one of history’s particularly quiet months, with the only recorded event being the return to England of John Byron. Oh, and the deaths of the French physician Jean Astruc [Who he? Ed] and scholar Samuel Chandler, an English non-conformist minister. So, not much competition there then and consequently, the Old Vic had the stage pretty much to itself. And now, 250 years later, it’s still going strong and is the oldest functioning theatre in the English-speaking world.
To mark this remarkable achievement a weekend of celebrations took place in and around the theatre in the city’s King Street.
On Saturday, a balloted audience from across the city was invited to a one-off, free performance of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. This new collaboration, with highly acclaimed theatre company Kneehigh, is director Emma Rice’s final production before she takes the helm at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Kneehigh were in, as always, excellent form with this story of Russian artist Marc Chagall. The play continues its run at the theatre until 11th June.
On the Sunday, the theatre staged a spectacular anniversary gala, featuring the party pieces of famous faces including Caroline Quentin, Stephanie Cole, Greta Scacchi, Tim Pigott-Smith, Michael Morpurgo, Patrick Malahide, Sir Tony Robinson, Pippa Haywood and Samantha Bond, all of whom have strong ties with the theatre and/or the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The gala also showcased wider aspects of the theatre’s work, including its relationship with the School and the theatre’s Young Company. The day culminated outside on King Street with a state-of-the-art animation projected onto the front of the theatre. This spectacle created by Limbic Cinema showed the changing face of the theatre’s façade through its 250 year history, as well as an exclusive reveal of how the theatre will look after the completion of its major redevelopment project, which begins later this year.
Monday was the public’s day, with King Street filled with an array of steaming food stalls, street performers and loud music. Inside the theatre there was an ever changing kaleidoscope of local performers offering music and spoken word events. There were also several workshops taking place for all age groups. A bewigged Kris Hallett presented an interesting little playlet about how the money was raised for the original theatre. Apparently Silver Tickets were sold at the then enormous amount of £50. This silver ticket entitled its bearer to free entry to the theatre and all its productions in perpetuity. The current value of the tickets is £50,000.
Kris was followed by some local poets of whom I particularly liked Mike Roach whose witty poems were delivered with the aid of a tablet.
Meanwhile, a lot was happening out in the street, the high-spot of which was the amazing Bulzini’s tight-rope act which was one of the best I have seen. The evening again concluded with the Limbic film show.
So, all in all, a very worthy and worthwhile event where there truly was something for everyone. Hopefully, a lot of people came into the theatre for the first time and, hopefully, future generations will insure with the continuation of this remarkable institution for another 250 years.
