ONE OF LONDON'S BEST KEPT SECRETS (The Bloomsbury)

Member Name: lynn_bex

Product:	The Bloomsbury
Date:	01/04/02 (190 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Young and Vibrant, Comfortable, Relaxed

Disadvantages: None

“UCL BLOOMSBURY” - THE BLOOMSBURY THEATRE

Owned by University College London, this venue opened as “The Collegiate Theatre” in 1968, but remains one of London’s best-kept secrets.

Despite working within easy walking distance, I only investigated the Bloomsbury after spotting a newspaper advertisement for a rare one-off London gig by the American singer/songwriter and social commentator, Loudon Wainwright III.
[In response to your enquiry “Who He?” - please see my Loudon Wainwright op]

The venue was renamed “The Bloomsbury Theatre” in 1982, capitalising on its geographical location and the artistic associations of that name, but, come 2001, another change of name was implemented, and “UCL Bloomsbury” was born.

The “UCL” element reflects the theatre’s status and apparently the word “theatre” was dropped because it was found to have negative and old-fashioned connotations for the Bloomsbury’s core audience of 18 to 25 year olds.

[Lynn-bex finds this slightly troubling but, such matters being beyond the remit of this opinion, moves swiftly on, continuing to use the term “Theatre” as often as possible. – So there.]

This THEATRE is committed to hosting 12 weeks of University Shows during the course of the year, the other 40 weeks being filled, as I understand it, by professionals and professional companies presenting established and curricular related work “in non-establishment ways”.

I’m not really up to speed on today’s younger performers so, Loudon Wainwright apart, will name only Jo Brand, Eddie Izzard and Lily Savage as having appeared at the Bloomsbury. Hopefully these names will point you toward the newer “non-establishment” figures likely to be found at the Bloomsbury.

Situated at 15 Gordon Street, London WC1, the Theatre
is within walking distance of several rail and tube stations, including Euston/Euston Square, St Pancras, Warren Street, Tottenham Court Road and Russell Square, as well as being indirectly served by the numerous bus routes that criss-cross the streets in this grid-like area of London [buses do not run along Gordon Street but pass nearby].

Although there are a mere 550 seats, there is an illusion of this being a much larger auditorium, which puzzled me until I realised that the venue aims for comfort, rather than capacity, so that every seat has ample leg room. This proved to be a real bonus on my first visit, accompanied as I was by Rocky and her beau, Biker Boy. At 5ft 8ins or so, Rocky and I are both fairly tall, but the Biker is 6ft 4ins, so it was a real pleasure, for once in our lives, not to spend the evening playing footsie as we folded and re-folded ourselves into seats that are not designed for the long-legged.

Another bonus is the well-stocked and liberal theatre bar, which permits purchased drinks to be taken into the auditorium for consumption during the course of the show and/or interval. As is usual practice in most London theatres, it is also possible to pre-book interval drinks so as to avoid the crush.


Following service at the bar last year, my change was rather quaintly passed to me on a saucer, accompanied by a few wrapped sweets. Upon closer inspection, these blue, yellow and white sweets turned out to be slivers of what I would call “seaside rock,” were they not stamped through with the legend, “Bloomsbury Theatre.”

~~~
Being rather easily pleased, I was delighted with these little slivers of rock, not least because my grandmother always said that her father “invented” sticks of rock with the name stamped through…

Whenever Nan told this story my mother and her two sisters would howl with derisory laughter, and say, “Of course he didn&#
8217;t,” but Nan always swore that he DID...

Whatever the truth of the “invention,” there is no disputing the fact that Great Grandfather Ayling was a confectioner, with a shop in Battersea, South London so I expect he MADE sticks of rock – and that’s magical enough to please me whenever I look at that printing stamped through the middle.

I have never even seen a photograph of this Great Grandfather, who died many years before I was born. Already widowed, he lost four of his sons to the First World War and occasionally, when I was growing, up somebody would whisper “Epsom,” a euphemism for the asylum. It seems that he was quite literally driven mad by grief, and died a broken man.

Perhaps that’s why Nan believed that her father invented sticks of rock in happier days.

I want to believe it too.
~~~
Situated within the London Borough of Camden, the Bloomsbury offers benefits to residents of that Borough but there are also concessions and discounts for students, the over 60’s and people receiving state benefits.

There is an infa-red hearing system and for certain shows sign-interpreted performances are available. Some wheelchairs can be accommodated, by arrangement with the box office, and in certain circumstances free tickets will be provided for friends or helpers assisting disabled persons.

The booking office (Telephone: 020 7388 8822) is open Monday to Friday 10.0am to 6.00pm and from 12.00 noon to 6.00pm on Saturdays. On performance nights it remains open until half-an-hour after commencement of the show.

I booked my tickets in person, which enabled me to take a look at the impressive Bloomsbury Art Gallery, which is situated in the foyer area and is something to enjoy before a show, or during the interval.

There are some lunch-time and afternoon events and performances, so should you have time on your hands and live wit
hin reasonable travelling distance of Central London, you could do a lot worse than to book for a show at the Bloomsbury and combine this with a day out.

As I have mentioned elsewhere on dooyoo, the Bloomsbury area of London is a very cosmopolitan and mixed area. The British Museum is a mere 5 minutes walk from the Theatre and offers free admission (there is no arm-twisting, but visitors can drop contributions into strategically-placed collecting boxes!)

Alternatively, the shops of Oxford Street are only a stone’s throw away and well-heeled dooyooers will not need me to tell them that this means Bond Street’s designer shops are equally accessible!

I am not going to list forthcoming events at the Bloomsbury, as tastes differ and you can easily check them out for yourselves:

www.ucl.ac.uk/BloomsburyTheatre

…But I will mention that Loudon Wainwright is back there on 20 April 2002.

Following last year’s one-off show, he is now touring to showcase his brilliant “Last Man On Earth Album” - and I recommend that you check out your local listings.
Lynn

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