The New Year

by Jez Bond

Sunday, 6 January, 2013

We are still in the early days of 2013 - the time when the brain goes into autopilot and tries to end every date you write with the digits from last year. Is that an inability of speed to adapt or a subconscious desire to cling to the past?  At the Park we've constantly been adapting and evolving alongside the very visual physical changes of our emerging building. We're most certainly …

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THE BROCK RETURNS...

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 13 December, 2012

Some months ago the 'Brock' appeared onsite to aid demolition - but at the beginning of this week its power was unleashed again with even greater consequences. This time its task was to remove the thick reinfornced concrete slab floor between lower and upper ground levels. It took a matter of three days - albeit rather noisy ones - and finally after months of wondering what the true height in Park200 would feel like, we were given the opportunity to stand in the stalls-to-be and look up at the ceiling to experience it. It was truly a landmark and as we fast approach Christmas it sig…

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PUZZLED

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 6 December, 2012

No time to blog - hardly time to eat - just pushing through to get the season finalised - much harder than I thought - the giant jigsaw puzzle of it all! Now, hold on, I thought I had it but... where does this piece go?

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STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 29 November, 2012

The extension to our back of house staircase just went in today - what a result! Okay it's not quite as magnificent as the one in the picture (obviously that's the one leading to the actors' dressing rooms) but hey, it serves its purpose! For a few months now the upper office had been built but there was no way to access it. It's exciting to be able to get up there now: to measure up for a sofa…

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THINGS ARE GOING WELL

by Brackets Digital

Wednesday, 28 November, 2012

Should we be worried?  We're optimists, positive thinkers, bad company at a quiet breakfast table.  The chances are we'll always tell you how well things are going even when the roof has collapsed and the façade has fallen off (neither of these things have happened).  But it's surely a worrying sign when even Gary, our esteemed construction manager, says things are going very well.   If you've been to the site in the last week then you might have felt the difference as well as seen it.  Park 200 is just about to disappear from si…

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PERCEPTIONS

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 22 November, 2012

Sometimes things move too fast, you need them to slow down so you can catch up, be ready in time. Sometimes so slow that you wish you could grab the reins and turn a trot into a canter. Inevitably the things that seem, in the moment, to move at a frustrating pace are at the exact speed necessary for our journey - but life is a cruel teacher; it gives the exam first and then the lesson. So these statements can only be understood with the benefi…

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FLOOR OUT

by Melli Bond

Tuesday, 20 November, 2012

Major construction going on all today and this week. The floor is finally coming out in Park 200 getting ready to create that beautiful open space where we can look from the circle down into the stalls. It's pretty loud noisy and dusty. Makes me think of playing in a sandbox to the extreme! It's gotta be fun tearing stuff down right? I'm thinking that's one of the best kicks about being in the building trade - it's not so much the building up as the tearing down which is pretty fun!   

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THE UNBUILT

by Brackets Digital

Monday, 24 September, 2012

The ‘Unbuilt’ was the affectionate term my ex-boyfriend used to use for Park Theatre when distinguishing it from The Old Vic (my other place of work at the time), which was known as, ‘The Built.’  My BF was a lot younger (lol), not in the arts and not familiar with London. So, according to him, the best way to distinguish Park Theatre from The Old Vic was the fact that it was already built. Apart from the obvious differences between size, scale and the small matter of a couple of centuries, there are ways in which we very much hope to resemble The …

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ORCHIDS ROSES LILACS

by Melli Bond

Tuesday, 11 September, 2012

I was thinking about the natural light again in the building. I've always wanted to include something of outside on the inside - you have to find flowers in the Park. The question will be which flowers grow well indoors? I personally grow orchids in my house. They all have ladies names and they are all in full bloom at the moment. Orchids love light. They don't really need a lot of water - they like a nice shower every now and then but not to sit in water. My orchids have such various personalities too. I would like to know what flowers you'd like to see in the Park? 

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COMPLETION OF FLATS

by Brackets Digital

Wednesday, 5 September, 2012

The flats are nearing completion, and every time I take a look they become more alluring.  I had a few minutes to spare early on Saturday morning, and so went up onto the balcony of the penthouse flat to have cup of coffee.  The morning sun was streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making it the perfect place to relax and watch the world go by.  Even better, when you close the triple-glazed doors, the entire flat is silent.  I'm already jealous of the lucky people who get to live there...

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DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 30 August, 2012

Getting the infrastructure for the theatre right is so vital. We've heard horror stories of theatres built where someone burnt toast in the flat above and the whole fire alarm sounded in order to exacuate the audience, where the walls were so badly designed that Hamlet's "To be or not to be" was drowned out by the sound of the basketball court next door and even where the dressing rooms had been, um... forgotten. The beauty of this project is that we're checking everything at every stage of the way, both Dave and I are on the case. Every screw, every piec…

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TWITTER

by Brackets Digital

Wednesday, 29 August, 2012

When we first set up the @ParkTheatreLive Twitter account, we had a very informal style of keep people up to date with the building process and the work we were seeing.  The style has obviously had to evolve as the team has got bigger, and as the shape of the organisation emerges.  We've been talking a lot about the tone of the social media interaction, partly because we want it to be an accurate reflection of Park Theatre not only as a place, but also as a group of people.   We think of ourselves as a working family, replete with our very own mascot, leader…

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LIFE

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 23 August, 2012

The coming and going The toing and froing The meeting and greeting The drinking and eating The emails, the letters, the doorbells, the phone Life's about people but leave me alone The asking, the telling The buying, the selling The ranting and raving The cost versus saving The inbox, the outbox, the sent and received  If it stopped for a moment I'd be so relieved  

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WHAT COLOUR SHOULD AUDITORIA BE?

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 16 August, 2012

Theatres need to be incredibly diverse spaces. From being the battlegrounds of Agincourt one month to the working kitchen of a restaurant the next a lot is demanded of our auditoria - and it's not all in the set design. The fabric of the building needs to handle each transformation - with requirements for comfort, fire safety, ventilation and other regulatory matters fighting alongside the tech…

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WALLS

by Brackets Digital

Wednesday, 15 August, 2012

I've never really lived in my own time.  I was born in the eighties, but a part of me still expects to hear the Village People on Radio 1.  I knew almost none of the performers in the Closing Ceremony last week, although I'm told that even those who are 'down with the kids' felt like they'd stumbled on an understudy run.  When did a single letter become an acceptable surname?  Until recently, I thought that walls were still built with bricks and cement.  It's true that we did have a specialist workman on site about ten days ago …

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OLYMPIC FEVER

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 9 August, 2012

As the final two days of the Olympics approach it's amazing to think just how much preparation has gone into ensuring the world experiences a marvellous two weeks of sport. At the beginning of last week we saw Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony and the days since then seem to have run more smoothly than perhaps anyone expected. It's been an immense effort; four years in the maki…

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TRANSFORMATION

by Brackets Digital

Friday, 27 July, 2012

See that fascinating creature With perfection stamped on ev'ry feature She was plain little Nellie The kid from the deli But Mother of God, look what happened to Mabel! This week I went to see the glorious Mack and Mabel at Southwark Playhouse, produced by Park trustee Danielle Tarento. Mack and Mabel is first and foremost a love story, but it is also an irresistible tale of transformation: of Mabel's rise from deli to silver screen, where audiences find they can see into her soul.  I…

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NATURAL LIGHT

by Brackets Digital

Wednesday, 25 July, 2012

I've been abroad for a couple of weeks, during which time the site has changed radically.  As you probably know, both theatre spaces now have a roof, which makes it much easier to imagine what they will feel like after completion.  The roof won't keep the rain out for a few more weeks, but it does allow the sunshine in.  Both theatres have large skylights above them which will allow anybody working in the building to avoid the zombie look during tech week and daytime rehearsals.  It's also great for sustainability, as the sunlight on days like today will h…

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VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

by Jez Bond

Thursday, 28 June, 2012

Whilst it's tough not directing a show for so long, working on a project like this is an immensely rewarding experience. The main thing is that every day is different. From meetings about architectural lighting design to conducting site tours, from emailing local artists to dealing with Gift Aid returns, there is no shortage of variety. To finish my day I ventured to Crouch End this very evening to attend a variety show. I love variety - it's the spice of life.

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THE SUN IS ALWAYS SHINING IN FINSBURY PARK

by Melli Bond

Tuesday, 19 June, 2012

A beautiful day today with the sun shining and blue skies the site looked great all day in this weather. With all of our beautiful steel coming up you can not only really start to see the structure but you get the feel of reality setting in. I am very excited by not only steel but glass. I have a real fascination with glass and there are many reasons why. I have a very strong memory for my dreams - now this may seem like a non-sequitor but I assure you it isn't.  I have a collection of nearly a hundred dreams from childhood that I remember as strongly as real life mem…

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