Thousands of artists will have access to a major new free rehearsal space this summer on British Land’s Broadgate campus as part of a push to help the arts sector get back on its feet post-pandemic.
The site, launched by the New Diorama Theatre, will include 20,000 sq ft of rehearsal rooms, meeting space, design studios and communal areas at 2 Finsbury Avenue, EC2.
Opening in July, the New Diorama Theatre Broadgate will be fully staffed and free to use. Organisers claim it will be the first of its kind in the world. The space is predicted to attract an estimated footfall of more than 80,000 creatives over the year.
New Diorama Theatre’s artistic and executive director David Byrne said: “NDT Broadgate will be an engine for change – a place where artists will come back together and catalyse a new wave of creativity, accessing free shared assets to make inspiring new performances that will energise the nation, while investing in new ways of working and a more inclusive future.”
Byrne praised British Land’s support for the arts sector, adding that directors had “stood shoulder-to-shoulder” with the theatre company during Covid-19. New Diorama Theatre’s main performance space is based at British Land’s Regent’s Place campus near Great Portland Street.
The two companies will publish a blueprint for the project so that similar partnerships can be replicated globally.
David Lockyer, head of Broadgate at British Land, said: “This exciting partnership in such a vibrant and diverse part of London will play an important part in supporting the UK’s cultural recovery, and will pave the way for similar projects across the country and abroad.”
The project forms a significant part of the City of London’s plans to reinvigorate the capital’s cultural industries, which have been on financial life support throughout the pandemic. Theatre productions have been cancelled and future projects delayed during repeated lockdowns, with as many as 40% of the sector’s UK workers thought to have lost their jobs in the last 14 months.
Catherine McGuinness, policy chair of the City of London Corporation, said: “The Square Mile is evolving in order to provide an ecosystem that remains attractive to workers, visitors, learners and residents. And a renewed creative sector, building on our existing cultural strengths, will play a leading role in this recovery.
“I am entirely confident that many independent artists will be tempted to take up this very generous offer – the opportunity to write, design, rehearse, and perform their work in free space here in the City.”
Alongside New Diorama, NDT Broadgate will be overseen by four associate theatre companies: Nouveau Riche, The PappyShow (pictured), Migrants in Theatre and Chinese Arts Now. Supported by Jerwood Arts, each will have dedicated office and rehearsal space at NDT Broadgate.
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