THE latest addition to Scotland’s stock of major arts buildings will open next weekend. Cumbernauld’s Lanternhouse venue – which will play host to theatre, cinema, music, comedy, dance and a variety of community arts projects – officially opens its doors on Saturday, October 2 with a new production of Shakespeare’s timeless romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.
The production will be Cumbernauld Theatre Company’s first since its 2019 Christmas show Cinderella, with which it bade farewell to its much-loved former home in the Cumbernauld Cottage Theatre. Directed by Kate Nelson, who is artistic director of the award-winning, Edinburgh-based Nutshell theatre company, this staging re-imagines Shakespeare’s play for the 21st century.
The company promises a “physically charged and energetic” production in which 16th-century Verona is transformed into a dystopian, Orwellian city where the population is locked behind gates and walls. The rulers of this state take a Big Brother-style interest in every aspect of the citizens’ lives, including their romantic attachments.
A truncated staging of the Bard’s tragedy, this fast-paced version of the play will be performed by a cast of just five actors, led by fine, young performers Leah Byrne (as Juliet) and Angus Taylor (Romeo).
The Lanternhouse’s chief executive officer Sarah Price is excited – and relieved – to finally be inviting audiences into the venue. The Covid pandemic complicated both the building and the opening of the new arts centre.
Now that the Scottish Government’s coronavirus protocols allow audiences into cultural venues, Price and her team are eager to get up and running. “We really wanted to get work up on the stage and get communities into the venue,” she says.
The CEO lays a great emphasis on the new arts centre’s innovative approach to making work, whether it be theatre, visual art or any other kind of cultural expression. The Lanternhouse will be, she says, a “community hub” for Cumbernauld and the surrounding area.
The venue will be run in a partnership between the Cumbernauld Theatre Trust and North Lanarkshire Council, with support from Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government and the Weston Culture Fund. In addition to being the new home of Cumbernauld Theatre Company, it will initiate all manner of community arts projects and host many of the artworks that emerge from them.
Access for local community arts groups will be, Price says, a “big part” of the work of Lanternhouse. Her vision for the venue is that “everybody in the local community has a stake in it, everybody has a sense of ownership of it”.
The job of herself and the Lanternhouse board is, she emphasises, to facilitate that community influence over the venue, rather than to simply decide what happens within it. “We are consulting locally, we are engaging local people in our planning for what activities are going to go on in the building,” she says.
Even the commissioning of the headline production of Romeo and Juliet was, Price explains, the outcome of the deliberations of a panel made up both of local people and Lanternhouse staff. This “different model” for running a major arts venue extends to new and emerging artists, the CEO continues.
Price is keen for the Lanternhouse to consider the ideas of creative artists in Scotland who might hitherto have considered themselves to be too inexperienced to be commissioned by a leading arts organisation.
Cumbernauld’s new arts centre has the potential to be a vibrant addition to culture in Scotland. More than just a new building, it promises to be an energetic location for creative activity for the people of North Lanarkshire.
For tickets for Romeo and Juliet, and for more information about Lanternhouse, visit: lanternhousearts.org
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