The
largest audience group of the Sydney Opera House is the daytime visitor –
the three to four million people who go to the House each year to enjoy Jørn
Utzon's tarnished architecture.
TheatreWorks
was to be the Trust's daytime venue, an entertainment space to present the story of the House and
stimulate interest in its business.
With
the enthusiastic backing of the Minister for the Arts, Peter Collins, the
proposal was developed by the Trust's Librarian, Paul Bentley and architect
Leif Kristensen - in part stimulated by The Building of the
Century Exhibition, curated by Bentley in 1988, and by Kristensen's 1989
scheme for an exhibition space devoted to the Sydney Opera House story under
the forecourt.
Part
museum and part theatre, TheatreWorks was intended to take visitors inside the
Opera House and engage them in the multifaceted worlds of theatre and music using
the latest technology, stage mechanics, special effects and interactive
devices.
In 1994, the
NSW Government committed $7.3 million towards the museum, an associated
architectural ideas initiated by Kristensen – the Western Broadwalk Foyer,
linking the Playhouse and Drama Theatre foyers, and improved backstage
facilities in the Concert Hall.
Research
for the project included visits to over 100 museums in Europe, the United
States and Asia.
Based on
aspects of Sydney Opera House history and operations, the TheatreWorks
proposal had four major components:
·
A theatre.
An opening audio visual experience was to unveil a three dimensional space
in which the craft of theatre was to be demonstrated through a variety of traditional and hi-tech theatrical illusions employing cinematic projections
on screens and gauzes, sets, revolving stages, flies and lifts, light, sound
effects and live performance.
·
Interactive
modules.
A series of modules was to provide interactive experiences exploring the rich
variety of the performing arts, including creativity, writing and language,
sound, speech and music, lighting, movement, design and performance.
·
The big bang. The
concluding experience was to be of a rousing nature, taking place in the
Black Box, a 5.8 square metre space equipped with mobile catwalks and
projection screens for experimental performance
·
The
Dennis Wolanski Library.
The TheatreWorks idea led to substantial changes in the scope of the
Dennis Wolanski Library. The transfer of performing arts archival material to
the State Library of New South Wales had commenced. As an integral part of
TheatreWorks, the library was to complement its role of assisting visitors to
obtain information on the arts represented in the building by offering them
the opportunity to see and hear performances from around the world on laser
disk.
Feasibility
and value management studies, economic appraisals, architectural design and
documentation and an exhibition design brief had been completed, exhibition
design teams short-listed and negotiations opened with major sponsors by March
1995, when the New South Wales State election was held. The new government
closed the project in favour of re-using the space as a performance venue.
Leif Kristensen completed designs for this space, now called The Studio.
See
also TheatreWorks Research
