What happens inside a theatre when nothing is happening?

What do theatre buildings do?

In place of a show is a series of lecture-works exploring four theatre buildings around the world.
Turning attention away from the human element (the work of performers, artists, audiences, architects, etc), the lectures focus on the buildings themselves: theatres stripped of their primary purpose, lying empty, preserved as museums, or demolished.
When the human element no longer dominates the space, non-human elements take centre stage: curtains, seats, balconies, doors, as well as animals, insects, air currents, dust.

Perhaps the art of theatrical representation can be best understood by attending to seemingly insignificant events: a swallow flying around an auditorium in a theatre in Italy; the swirls of dust motes on the site of a demolished London theatre; the darkness that fills auditoria once the show is over.

Each lecture centres on a particular theatre building:

1. Vicenza's Teatro Olimpico, the first indoor theatre in the West, inhabited by a lone swallow.
2. Munich's Baroque Opera House, entirely dismantled during WW2 and later reassembled piece by piece.
3. London's Dalston Theatre, demolished to make way for high-rise residential towers.
4. Teatro Amazonas, the famous European-style opera house built in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.


Credits
Written & performed by Augusto Corrieri

Duration of each lecture: approx 30 minutes

Supported by Performance Matters, developed at pad pépinière artistique daviers (Angers).

Press reviews

Andrew Haydon's theatre blog
Bellyflop magazine

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