Team search for the spirit of the Library Theatre

A WEBSITE has been launched to investigate how audiences in Manchester respond to and value theatre.

The Spirit of Theatre is a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University and the Library Theatre Company, and the organisers are asking that anyone who has seen a show produced by the Library Theatre Company log on to www.spiritoftheatre.org to contribute.

When contributors post comments on the site they will populate the various theatre spaces with their thoughts, feelings, stories and memories building a shared sense of what we remember and value about the Library Theatre Company.

If you have ever been to see a show produced by the Library Theatre Company please contribute to our new ‘Spirit of Theatre’ website which you will find at: http://spiritoftheatre.org

Major change

The project began in February 2013, with a detailed investigation into the response to Artistic Director Chris Honer’s production of Berthold Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children. Audience members filled in a three-part questionnaire and some talked to us at length in one-to-one interviews.

This is a time of major change for the Library Theatre Company, which has been resident in the basement of Manchester’s Central Library since the first professional company was engaged by the City Council in 1952.

The Company is in the process of merging with Cornerhouse, Manchester’s international centre for contemporary visual arts and independent film, to form a new producing arts organisation, which will move to a purpose-built venue at First Street, Manchester in 2014.

Artist Simon Woolham, web designer John Clarke of groupof, and Julie Wilkinson from the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University have collaborated to produce the Spirit of Theatre website.

Imaginary game-board

Julie said: “We took inspiration from the architects’ process of designing the brand new theatre at First Street to construct our imaginary game-board that allows audience access to all the working spaces in a theatre building.

“By clicking on the links on our plan or navigating the routes we have set out within the site you can move from auditorium to stage door, from wings to actor’s Green Room to dressing rooms to stage, and so on. You will be able to contribute either via your computer screen or on any hand-held or mobile devices.”

Contributions to the site will form part of the team’s research project and may be anonymously reproduced in publications for educational purposes.

The site is supported by Manchester Metropolitan University and the British Theatre Consortium and will be live for a limited period until the end of July 2013. If you have queries about the site or the project please contact Julie Wilkinson at j.wilkinson@mmu.ac.uk.