| Reopening and First Production |
At Theatr Clwyd |
| Tick, tick...Boom! , Theatr Clwyd , July 10, 2025 |
Theatr Clwyd was officially re-opened on 5th July. The rebuilding, described as transformation and future-proofing had a capital cost of Ł50m. The work included enhancements to the theatres and cinema, a new terrace, and first floor restaurant. The architect was Haworth Tompkins.Theatr Clwyd featured in Jon Gower's report on theatre's future, below 12th June. “The Ł50 million capital investment project to redevelop Theatr Clwyd is estimated to create 100 new jobs, generating an annual boost of up to Ł30 million for the local economy, as well as making it a carbon positive building for much of the time. “It opened its main stage theatre ahead of the rest of the building in November 2024, host its annual pantomime which attracts an audience of 40,000 every season. The redevelopment will enhance all of Theatr Clwyd’s theatre-making capabilities. It is one of only four theatres in the whole of the UK that still has all the making departments in-house, the costume makers, the scenic artists, the scenic construction with the welders and carpenters, the props makers and the lighting and sound technicians. “As a result, it has the specific space to train talent of the future in those departments. Theatr Clwyd has seen considerable employment growth to match its capital expansion. In 2016, it employed a 60-strong core company of members. It currently employs 153 people across all of its workforce. It also offers opportunities for 500 freelancers such as actors, directors and musicians every year. “A key development is Stiwdio Clwyd, an Artists’ Development Studio for Wales which will provide Wales’s first dedicated year-round programme of professional development for theatre makers from all parts of the theatre world and at all stages of their careers. Stiwdio Clwyd is not intended to become a product line for Theatr Clwyd’s in-house productions but rather as a long-term investment in the theatre makers of Wales. “One component will be a writers-in-residence programme in which six to ten writers, at different stages in their careers, will visit Theatr Clwyd each year to write and be paid at a professional rate. Theatr Clwyd will also run a ‘companies in residence’ scheme in fallow periods, to include mentoring, and a 2-year design traineeship will be awarded to a recent graduate of the RWCMD annually.” * * * * Nicholas Davies visited for the Stage. “The scale of Theatr Clwyd’s renovation is extraordinary. It has been almost a decade since planning began to overhaul a loved but slowly decaying building. Evans-Ford joined the company in 2016, fresh from delivering a Ł6 million redevelopment of York’s Theatre Royal, an actor-turned-producer and now seasoned leader of capital building projects. “...Constructed almost 50 years ago, Theatr Clwyd gradually aged until, by the 2010s, a leaking roof, saturated floors, erratic electrics and other disrepairs were plunging the venue towards closure. Sam Freeman, director of audiences and insight, tells me of the time it snowed indoors after an office roof collapsed during a winter storm. The leadership team needed to act fast, with initial funding sought from Arts Council of Wales, Flintshire County Council and the Welsh government. Other funders have since contributed a combined total of Ł50 million. “Architect firm Haworth Tompkins was appointed, the project led by Steve Tompkins, who had previously designed new builds and refurbishments for London’s Royal Court, Liverpool Everyman and the National Theatre, among others. "As Evans-Ford proudly shows me around the interior, the respect for the original 1970s design, alongside the needs of future generations, resonates. The entrance, three storeys high, juts out an additional few metres from the original frontage, closer to the brow of the hill, an assertive statement of modernity. Red-hued larch wood and glass demonstrate a modern aesthetic in the company’s approach, but there are nods to previous century in the preserved wall tiles and the dark orange brickwork outside. “The interior colour scheme echoes the breathtaking landscape, with green, yellow and terracotta evoking the extraordinary view that the building’s panoramic sweep of glass now affords. The heathered peak of Moel Famau – the highest point of the county of Flintshire, five miles across the valley – will never look as clear as it will over a pre-matinee drink. “...The theatre’s team want it to be a place that communities will use throughout the week, where parents might come to enjoy a coffee while their children play in a safe space, or where older generations might visit. “...The theatre will also continue to work with Flintshire social services, hosting vulnerable young adults on theatre-led training schemes. Improved work spaces will provide wider opportunities. “...In developing the project, Theatr Clwyd reached out to local communities and the wider theatre sector in Wales (8,500 people responded with suggestions). On viewing the new warehouse-scale set construction workshop, Evans-Ford is keen to point out an articulated platform that allows design teams to paint enormous canvases without taking them down – small details that make a difference. “...Suzanne Bell – previously a dramaturg at Manchester’s Royal Exchange – was appointed late last year as director of the development hub, and she has since met with 500 creatives to gauge need and ideas to ensure a programme that has a lasting effect on the wider sector.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/theatr-clwyd-inside-the-unique-welsh-venues-50m-redevelopment * * * * “Tick, Tick...Boom!” was reviewed in the Guardian. “Kate Wasserberg, for her first production as artistic director, picks Jonathan Larson’s memoir musical: a show that refuses to apologise for the urgent necessity of making art. “It’s New York in 1990: the city of scuzzy apartments and fragile hopes that Larson would immortalise in Rent. Jonathan is living on a hustle and a dream, desperate to compose a Broadway show. As he turns 30, his unrealised ambition is all-consuming; he’s too tangled up in frets and feelings to be properly present for his girlfriend, Susan, and best friend, Michael. “Time is flying, everything is dying. A revolve neatly suggests Jonathan’s fear that he can’t set his own pace – life is going too fast, his career too slowly. This “pre-midlife crisis” could seem frivolous, but the heartbreak, the anxiety over health and money all feel real, especially in Wasserberg’s production, which is tender with the characters. “Larson performed this as a solo; it was itself redeveloped after his death in 1996. His heady score is richly varied, from introspective ballad to guitar-hero antics, from zippy vaudeville to shimmering Sondheim homage. All arrive with gusto from the balcony band and tireless cast. Ryan Owen gives Jonathan restless fingers, taut smiles and a resonant sob of a voice. He bounces feelingly off Tarik Frimpong’s twisty, animated Michael and Christina Modestou’s terrific Susan, a performance of ample wit and warmth. “This is also a soft launch for technical bells and whistles. Katy Morison’s lighting shifts from chill to flare (with a last neon flourish). Amy Jane Cook’s set design inserts evocative sections of rooms and roofs, and is as multitasking as the actors: a diner bar spins to become a BMW. With posters for Hair and Merrily We Roll Along on Jonathan’s wall, this show is a theatre kid’s apotheosis. “It’s also a statement of intent. Making art, like opening a theatre, is a leap of faith. Theatr Clwyd lands triumphantly.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jun/07/tick-tick-boom-review-a-theatr-clwyd-mold Picture credit: Johan Persson |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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