At Boiling Point
A Four Day Festival of Theatre, Art & Multimedia at the Boiler House
Presented By London Metropolitan University & Heritage Arts | Mon 20th- Fri 24th Oct t 2014
A Pop-Up Collaboration
London Met and Heritage Arts present a pop up in the atmospheric Boiler House in the heart of Holloway Road. Clamber over the rubble, lean over the bannisters and peer into the dark corners to see the exciting multi-media art work and theatrical performances which will be bubbling out of this atmospheric new venue.
Includes work by Superbolt Theatre, Metra Theatre, Move To Stand, Jane Turner (Turning Worlds), Jacek Scarso (Elastic Theatre), Anne Robinson, Dawn State and more.
Bringing together award-winning theatre companies, rich multimedia artwork and a creative student body in a found environment, At Boiling Point showcased four days of effective collaboration between practising professionals and the next generation of artists and theatremakers in training.
Education Through Practice
Heritage Arts collaborated with London Metropolitan University for two purposes: to provide a unique learning opportuniy for the student body, and to showcase the incredible found-space of the Boiler House within the heart of the LMU campus. Students formed the backbone of the on-site team for both the build and run through our work-based learning approach.
Under the stewardship of Andy George and Natasha Kerswell of Heritage Arts, students from CASS, FSSH and Business School learned skills from the practical – use of tools and workplace safety – to the creative – visual, light and sound design – to the managerial – team hierarchy, audience and customer management – by working shoulder-to-shoulder with industry professionals recruited from the VAULT Festival senior team and beyond.
Students filled front of house roles such as box office staff and house ushers, backstage roles such as building and rigging the space, documentation roles with film and photography, and the incidental roles such as carrying, running and assisting during technical rehearsals.
The response to the venue, programming and delivery was overwhelmingly positive, with a close to 100% satisfaction rate and a strong marked desire to return to the venue, even in its current state, to see more work, with strong approval of its “raw” aesthetic and indicators that the venue appears to be unique within the local area and community.
Audience feedback frequently mentions accessibility (the relaxed and enjoyable aesthetic of the space), the opportunity to bring new artistic work to the area and strengthen the relationship between the university and local community. This sentiment was even stronger amongst university-affiliated responses: of the students surveyed, 100% declared the strongest possible support for future events in the venue.
At Boiling Point Documentary
by students Joy Karagiorgou, Uyen Nguyen & Ieva Karosaite
“Education, community and participatory work is not an add-on. It should be at the heart of every arts organisation.
It is the future.”
Lyn Gardner,
The Guardian, 2012
“Working on At Boiling Point gave me the chance to build and have ownership of a theatre space. It also gave me the chance to meet some great professional contacts and have a great time during the process.”
Jamie Russell-Curtis,
LMU Student
“What a pleasure to perform Fat Man at the Boiler House… A beautiful space destined to be the home of some incredible theatre.”
Martin Bonger,
Artistic Director, Move To Stand
Further Information
To hear more about London Metropolitan University, the Boiler House Project, At Boiling Point itself or how Heritage Arts can help with your creative educational projects, please get in touch: info@heritagearts.co.uk.