From a derelict urban site to the depths of the woods, theatre-makers are planning new stages for outdoor shows when lockdown is lifted

By Ella Braidwood

“With indoor playhouses shuttered over summer last year, it was up to the open-air veterans to wave the flag for live theatre, from the Minack in Cornwall to Regent’s Park Open Air theatre in London. For arts organizations used to staging work outside, the benefits were clear well before the pandemic. In Grimsby, The Culture House has delivered a mixture of outdoor and indoor arts across north-east Lincolnshire since 2010. In recent years, the company has increased its outdoor work. As director Charlotte Bowen says, this move was key to reaching people in Grimsby, an area of low arts engagement.

“Outdoor arts is more accessible because it’s in democratic open spaces,” says Bowen. “So it removes the barriers to engagement, which historically have been people not thinking something is for them, [or] that they can’t afford it.”

The Culture House is planning a free outdoor festival in Grimsby this year, themed around green spaces, in partnership with Without Walls, a consortium aiming to raise the profile of the outdoor arts sector. “Covid has emphasised that need for connectivity, and outdoors is a place where that can happen,” says Bowen. What advice does she have for others wanting to go open-air? “See what networks you can join, and get talking to colleagues across the country,” she says.

Source: The Guardian News and Media