(pictured above, clockwise from top left: Karoly Ficsor in Leviathan, Rita Walters and Eamon Ali in Kid Arthur, Charlie Mafham and Duncan Leighton in Caucasian Chalk Circle and Tereza Harding, Barbie Chambers and Joan Rock in Macbeth in the Blitz)
January
The year began with the birth of Centre Manager Mari Rettedal-Westlake’s first child, Oskar. He’s now a regular visitor but was exhausted by his first journey to the Space. January ended with another first as our adult group, WorkSpace mounted their first full-scale production, performing Macbeth in the Blitz to three full houses.
February
A reasonably quiet month saw us beginning rehearsals for The Caucasian Chalk Circle in earnest, The Misshaped Pearls performing a fantastic gig and Docklands Youth Forum preparing for The Event.
March
Our first in-house production of the year, The Caucasian Chalk Circle receives rave reviews
‘A promising and engaging production for an innovative space that certainly has some bright years ahead.’
There’s a musical feel to the month with the University of Greenwich’s Glee club performing Welcome to the Madhouse whilst our very own Space Cadets delighted friends and family with their Musical Medley.
April
Ben Gunn in our 2010 production of Treasure Island, Matthew Gould returns as the director of Baby Jesus Freak and Stage Kiss, two pieces of new writing.
The SpaceWorks groups came together to celebrate the end of the 2nd year of the company with a look back on our achievements, a Hubbub barbeque and performances from each age group (and a special sketch by the staff and tutors!).
May
Debut theatre company, Beehive, perform Paper Wings to full houses whilst A Monkey With Cymbals return with Aphra. Otherwise, a quiet month, the calm before the Summer storm!
June
An amazing month:- WorkSpace perform The Space Between Sleeping, written by Steven Shawcroft and then join our fundraising committee in their first event – a sponsored Wheels and Walk around the Isle of Dogs.
We then open two Space Productions in two days! Emma Sampson directs Tartuffe at the Space (Will Seaward receiving an Off West-End nomination as Best Actor) whilst Alex Crampton transfers last year’s successful production of A Doll’s House to the Arcola.
We also launched Stargazers, our new membership scheme giving people access to cheaper tickets, food from our café bar and discounts on hiring the hall.
July
Music takes over in July as the Isle of Dogs Choirs Festival is followed by the UK premiere of new musical Slay It With Music, brought to us by A Stage Kindly and subsequently transferred to the Greenwich Playhouse.
The Space Youth Drama group delighted local audiences and Millwall Park users with their site specific, promenade piece The Wall, staged in the railway arches.
August
Not to be outdone by the SYD, our WorkSpace group created their own site specific piece, Leviathan explored the building of the Great Eastern on Burrell’s Wharf.
Lazarus Theatre Company brought their Summer of Greeks to the Space with Electra: Her Life and Orestes: His Fall performing in rep.
In Edinburgh, former Night at the Dogs compere, Nick Helm, won an award for ‘Best Joke of the Fringe’.
September
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Space, we ran two features looking back at Fifteen people who shaped the Space and Fifteen memorable performances.
The Fifteen festival brought together a selection of fifteen minute performances over 3 nights, culminating in a marathon event on the Saturday featuring Meerkats, Birthday cakes and the Party Pastoral Support Team!
October
There’s barely time to catch our breath after Fifteen before Kid Arthur and the Knights of the Revolution, our final in-house production of the year, takes to the stage. The fundraising committee combine with the WorkSpace group to create the Marvellous Medieval Banquet Fundraiser and Space regular, David Grindley celebrates his 50th birthday!
Mari returns from her maternity leave and we say a big thank you to Emma Sampson for providing cover and reinvigorating our marketing and box office systems.
November
Andrew Venning returns to the Space stage in Look Back in Anger directed by former Hubbub manager, Ben Metcalf. Guillaume Pige and theatre re- performed The Gambler, a beautiful piece of physical theatre.
WorkSpace Productions begin rehearsals for the Trial, the first event in 2012 and the 2000th in the Space’s history!
We also open our new book corner in Hubbub – pop in and pick up a book!
December
More old faces return as Amber Elliott directs Tabitha Becker-Kahn in Titian Rep’s The Winter’s Tale. Our Christmas audiences are delighted as is Amber when she picks up an Off West End award nomination for Best Director!
We end the year as always – the staff Christmas party followed by London Docklands Singer’s sell-out Christmas Concert for CRISIS
A big thank you to all our performers, audience members, workshop participants, directors, designers, tutors, volunteers, trustees, partners and staff for making 2011 such a great year. In difficult times we broke our record for number of tickets sold in a calendar year!