page_title: Bristol Old Vic
section_title: Refurbishment
hierarchical_section_title: Bristol Old Vic / Refurbishment
caption_attribution_description: English: The front of the Coopers' Hall, designed by William Halfpenny and erected in 1743-44. At the time the photo was taken the Coopers' Hall served as the main entrance to the Bristol Old Vic.
context_page_description: Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a financially independent organisation in the 1990s. Bristol Old Vic runs a Young Company for those aged 7–25.
  The Theatre Royal, the oldest continually-operating theatre in the English-speaking world, was built between 1764 and 1766 on King Street in Bristol. The Coopers' Hall, built 1743–44, was incorporated as the theatre's foyer during 1970–72. Together, they are designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England. Daniel Day-Lewis called it "the most beautiful theatre in England."
  In 2012 the theatre complex completed the first phase of a £19 million refurbishment, increasing the seating capacity and providing up to ten flexible performance spaces. Besides the main Theatre Royal auditorium, the complex includes the Studio theatre and the Side Stage, Paint Shop and Basement performance areas. Whilst the theatre was closed, the company continued to present work in the Studio and Basement spaces, as well as at other sites around Bristol.
context_section_description: In July 2007, the board of trustees took the controversial decision to close the theatre for refurbishment. Many members of the theatre profession feared for the future of the Old Vic. Following several public meetings in the winter of 2007/2008 a newly formed board of trustees appointed Dick Penny, the director of the Watershed Media Centre as executive chairman.
  In February 2009 the company announced that Tom Morris, at that time an associate director at the Royal National Theatre and formerly artistic director at Battersea Arts Centre, had been appointed as artistic director. Emma Stenning, who had previously worked with Tom Morris at BAC, became executive director.
  In October 2010 there was a merger of the Old Vic and the Theatre Royal Bristol Trust, into a combined charity to be chaired by Laura Marshall, the managing director of Icon Films.
  A fundraising campaign for the £19 million planned refurbishment was assisted by appearances from, among others, Richard Briers, Stephanie Cole, Judi Dench, Prunella Scales, Timothy West and Patrick Stewart. £5.3 million was provided by the Arts Council. During the closure the company staged productions in the Studio theatre, the Basement and in other locations around Bristol, including Sally Cookson's adaptation of Treasure Island on King Street in summer 2011 and Melly Still's revival of Coram Boy at the Colston Hall at Christmas 2011.
  The plan was for a flexible theatre complex, where up to ten areas are available for performance. Tom Morris has cited as inspiration the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. The main auditorium gained an optional thrust stage, and an increase in seating to 540. The Side Stage area was redeveloped, with additional capacity of 250, creating the option of a separate second auditorium. Other spaces redeveloped as performance areas included the Paint Shop and the rehearsal room. The Theatre Royal re-opened in September 2012, with Wild Oats.
  A further round of redevelopment was undertaken between June 2016 and September 2018. The street side of the 1970s Peter Moro building, containing the Studio theatre (originally the New Vic), was demolished and replaced by a new foyer with bar and box office, which makes a feature of the previously hidden theatre walls. The Coopers' Hall was adapted to house new performance and event spaces, including a studio theatre in the barrel vaults in its basement.
caption: The Coopers' Hall served as the theatre's entrance from 1972 to 2016
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image ExifOffset": "50", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "312", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7871", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:10:06 17:20:57", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5616", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "5328", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "182", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "a6a6ccec135ed6a25f63db55bd7b7b15"}