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The Space is celebrating its 15th anniversary! From its humble origins in a derelict church the Space was transformed into a vibrant arts centre back in 1996. It is both an important creative hub, producing outstanding professional productions, and an asset for the local community. Over the years the Space has required a high level of commitment and dedication from its staff, volunteers and trustees. The incredible lengths that they have gone to in order to make the Space a success are recognised here in our feature ’15 people who shaped the Space’. Of course there are many others who have contributed, we would also like to thank all of our volunteers, artists, performers, supporters and audience members for making the Space such a great place to be.

Read part one here.

John Higgins, Emma Sampson and Ali Forbes
4-6 in a series of 15 people who shaped the Space

John Higgins

Retired seaman, John Higgins (pictured above), spent forty years in the Merchant Navy before settling down on the Isle of Dogs. Since then he’s used his prodigious skills to help out at the Space, whilst also putting in shifts at St Edmund’s Church and Whitechapel market.
Despite being ‘deaf in one hear and unable to hear out of the other’, John enjoys watching performances at the Space so much so that performers often find themselves taking a token of his appreciation away with them. A handyman par excellence, John celebrated his 80th birthday in the walls of the Space with a large number of well-wishers marking his memorable milestone.

Mari Rettedal-Westlake and Alex Crampton pay tribute to our truly unique volunteer.

‘Anyone who has ever been to the Space, whether a volunteer, an employee, bar staff, audiences, workshopper or incoming artist has received a hand shake from Mr Higgins.
John has made them all feel welcome with his huge heart and generosity. And for those of us who work here full time, how often have we come in the morning after a late shift, dreading the state of the hall only to find it all cleaned up, floor swept and chairs stacked. John always has just the thing you need and although he was already sailing the seven seas before most of us were even born, he is up on the ladders or carrying heavy equipment with the greatest of ease. John is truly a remarkable man and the Space just wouldn’t be the same without him.’

‘Old John’ has always been a part of the Space for as long as I’ve been here, as long as anyone’s been here. He lives to make others happy; to give little gifts whenever he can. His extreme generosity of spirit is something that I smile at and think of as the lifeblood of the Space.

Emma Sampson

Australian, Emma Sampson joined the Space in January 2011 as Mari went on maternity leave, but Emma had already put her mark on the Space. Together with her partner Adnan Lalani, Emma created the new and stylish website that most of you will have encountered. To have a professional and inviting presence online is crucial to making our mark as a venue. In addition to transforming the way that people meet the Space online, Emma has developed our e-newsletters, print materials and box office systems.

Emma is also a brilliant director, assisting some of our favourite performances here at the Space, like Gut Girls and the Shape of Things. This summer Emma made her debut at the Space as solo director in her remarkable rendition of Tartuffe.

Emma also worked with our first ever Space Youth Drama group on a film-making project which saw the staff of the Space parodying themselves in a mockumentary. This fly-on-the-wall piece, conceived and shot by 12-16 year olds, followed the Space staff as they attempted to stage ‘I’m a Little Teapot – the rock opera’. Emma’s sense of humour and easy-going nature created the perfect environment for the Space staff to enjoy sending themselves up.

Amazing attention to detail and creative ideas. Emma can take a look at the wider picture and always have something astute, perceptive and interesting to say. In the short time she’s been here Emma has tightened up the marketing department, given us a style overhaul, clear visual branding and developed press relationships.

Ali Forbes

An inspired arts programmer and skilled fundraiser, Ali Forbes was Centre Director of the Space from 2001-2005.

Whilst continuing to celebrate the diversity of the Space’s arts programme, Ali brought a new energy to the Space with band nights and cabaret events proving very popular with the local audience on the Isle of Dogs. Ali attracted some fantastic bands and eclectic performers and developed a following for the Trashville nights and free Summer festivals.

Ali had a great eye for talent and gave many new theatre companies opportunities to perform. That initial start is crucial for so many new companies and without Ali’s encouragement and support, many of them would have struggled. One such company, Les Enfants Terribles led by Oliver Lansley, have gone on to receive critical acclaim, been nominated for and won industry awards and now are making awards themselves as they aim to support other new companies starting out. Les Enfants Terribles’ first production at the Space was Steven Berkoff’s West and Ali managed to attract Berkoff himself to perform at the venue on more than one occasion. Ali’s desire to see big names perform at the Space also provided a performance from Linda Marlowe and brought us close to Helen Mirren who has voiced her support for the venue.

Amongst her many achievements was the securing of lottery funds to provide a new sound system at the venue. Ali clearly spent the money well as the system is still in operation today. Ali also brought in the grant providing workshops for young people that was the pre-cursor to our long running Space Cadets programme.

When Ali went part-time, she brought in current Centre Director Adam Hemming to job share. Adam recalls, ‘It was fantastic working alongside Ali. I’d known her for a couple of years having brought shows to the Space with my theatre company. I learnt a great deal from Ali and am massively grateful for the opportunities she gave me.’

By no means a definitive list, a selection of audience members from the last 20 years have nominated and commented on some of the stand-out memorable performances witnessed at the Isle of Dogs venue. We’d like to recognise every performer that has added to the history of the venue, from lead roles to third spear-carrier from the left, from virtuoso musicians and legendary comedians to theatre companies taking their first steps, we thank you for entertaining our audiences.

Read part one here.

Add your favourites by tweeting us @spaceartscentre – and don’t forget the hashtag #Space20 as we celebrate our 20th year!

Ben Gunn, Ugly Sisters and Maddid
4 – 6 in a series of 20 memorable performances celebrating 20 years at the Space

Matthew Gould as Ben Gunn (and the cheesettes)

In the Summer of 2010, Space Productions took on Phil Willmott’s hugely enjoyable adaptation of the classic Treasure Island. A fantastically talented ensemble cast brought the pirates to life with great gusto and a little sauce. Towards the end of the piece, we find Ben Gunn left alone with his thoughts which are never too far away from his favourite food, cheese. Unexpectedly, Ben breaks into song, using well known hits and replacing key words with cheese (or types of cheese). ‘The Circle of Cheese’, ‘Let it Brie’ and ‘I’m Singin’ in the Cheese’. Matthew Gould arranged the piece alongside our pirate pianist Marc Forde and performed the piece with incredible energy. With the audience already tittering away, Ben Gunn is joined on stage by the cheesettes – Jamie Richards, Amber Elliott, Raya Myntevik, Vicki Gaskin, Amy McGavin and Maddie Moate – all adorned with large blocks of cheese on their wrists. The laughter escalates throughout the numbers until the audience realise they have to join in with a version of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and the final crescendo on ‘I will always love cheese’ never failed to bring rapturous applause. It was a superbly executed comedy routine, delivered by some fine actors with buckets of enthusiasm and not a little cheese!

Stephen Barden & Rob Stott as The Ugly Sisters

With the success of the Graduate behind them, Space Productions decided to take on two Christmas shows in 2009. Lucy Frederick, performer in The Master and Margarita and The Graduate at the Space, turned her hand to writing an original comedy based at the venue, The Space Christmas Space Show (set in space). The play featured a fictional Centre Director and a host of characters based on the Cinderella story. Chief amongst these were the owners of the Space, re-cast as the Ugly Sisters, Sylvia and Cherie. Taking on these roles, in their best falsetto voices, were Space regular, Rob Stott and newcomer to the venue, Stephen Barden.

In the great tradition of pantomime dames, Stephen and Rob had some excellent put-downs, superb comic timing and a wonderful combination of masculine and feminine qualities. Clearly relishing the roles, great pleasure was taken in marmalising both English and French phrases whilst outlining their dastardly plans. Added to this was the comedy value of two tall men in heels playing alongside a rather diminutive actor in the lead role!

The play also featured members of WorkSpace, our adult community group, performing alongside professional actors and one of these recalls working with the two. ‘Stephen was a gem to work with and a generous performer and Rob was absolutely hilarious in the role and contributed brilliantly to the comedy of the play’.

Vala Ómarsdóttir as Maddid
Vala (pictured above left) is both director and performer of MADDID, a company she co-founded with the Space’s own Mari Rettedal-Westlake. Back in 2007 she performed the solo performance of What Now, Maddid? the company’s debut piece. Maddid, a young girl on a quest to become the person that she promised herself she was going to be. As the performance began the lights came up on a girl, upside down in a sofa… she starts twisting and twirling trying to express why she’s there in the first place, and the reason for the audience to witness it. It’s strange, a bit bizarre but hugely charming! Vala drew the audience in from the start and kept them there until the end. As she asked her audience ‘do you understand? can you be in my head…it would help… can you understand me?’ more than a few people were observed sitting on the edge of their seat, unaware that they were nodding their heads.

Vala is a strong performer who has since moved on to perform with renowned companies such as Tangled Feet and Bottlefed. She still creates her own work in MADDID with Mari and has just returned from another tour in Iceland. She recently graduated from Goldsmiths with glowing reviews from her tutors there.

1-3 in a series of 15 people who shaped the Space

Polly Schomberg

Polly Schomberg (pictured above) worked at the Space between1999 and 2001.

‘My first job out of university was working at a TV production company, which I hated. I decided that theatre luvvies were much nicer people (and I was right). Despite my total lack of any experience whatsoever I managed to bag the job of Fundraising Assistant at The Space. I remember walking to the interview and being blown away by my first sighting of this amazing old building in the middle of all the new shiny Docklands developments. After my first year I had managed to raise next to no money, so Rob let me become the Centre Assistant instead, which I was much better at. I did that for a year, before Rob left and I segued into the Centre Manager role instead.’

Polly continued the themes of music and theatrical performance but also made comedy nights her specialty. Comedy nights had been part of the Space’s repertoire and Polly drew in a range of talent from those starting out to some well-known acts such as Al Murray and Harry Hill.

Polly, like all her predecessors, was very committed and professional – but also had a special light touch and an ability to draw in a younger audience. One of the many highlights in Polly’s time was her organisation of the fifth anniversary night, which involved a significant degree of improvisation and yet proved to be highly enjoyable.

‘After three wonderful years my wanderlust got the better of me and I headed out to seek my fortune in Australia.’

Polly is now a Visitor Experience Consultant for the National Trust. ‘Heritage luvvies are a lot like theatre luvvies so I still feel at home.’

Jeanette Hoskins

‘Originally hired by Robert Richardson for 2 weeks to undertake PR for the very first show – Sir Ian McKellen’s A Knight Out in the East End – I ended up staying at the Space for a year (1996/97)’, Jeanette recalls.

‘I think I learnt pretty much everything at the Space – from fundraising to lighting board operation. To say it was ‘hands on job’ is an understatement. If you didn’t already know something, you improvised!

Robert had already taken his journey to transform the Space as a building. The energy it took to keep the Space alive as a working arts venue in its first year of operation was no less immense. There were few shops at Canary Wharf and Island Gardens was well and truly at the end of the line, but we managed to present a vibrant programme of music, comedy, theatre and dance. It is a testament to what a small number of people with sheer determination can do that the Space now celebrates its 15th anniversary.’

Following her year at The Space, Jeanette, who had originally trained trained as a ballet dancer at Elmhurst, worked as Assistant to the Producer at the Young Vic for 2 years, leaving there to work with Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures. She general managed his iconic Swan Lake to Germany and Japan in 2003. Jeanette was awarded a Senior Dance Management Fellowship by the Arts Council in 2005 after a period of working as a freelance dance manager. She is currently Project Manager for Dance Umbrella, producing site specific and large scale presentations with world class choreographers.

Kate Osborne

A local resident, American-born Kate Osborne joined the Space’s team of volunteers in 2008 and has been providing fund-raising support ever since. Kate was instrumental in putting together the funding applications for SpaceWorks, a landmark community theatre project for the Space. Kate’s work on successful applications to the Isle of Dogs Community Foundation, Awards For All, Clore Duffield Performing Arts Awards and the Wakefield and Tetley Trust, amongst others has enabled us to provide workshops for three age groups, technical theatre training and over 20 performances in the last two and a half years.

The project has now reached close to 300 direct participants with many more benefitting from the performances and workshops made possible by Kate’s dedication.

Her invaluable support has eased the fundraising pressure on Centre Director, Adam Hemming, enabling him to continue to push the Space forwards. Whether providing sound fundraising advice or discussing her fantasy football team Kate’s wonderfully cheerful personality, brightens the portacabin or office whenever she is around.

Add your favourites by tweeting us @spaceartscentre – and don’t forget the hashtag #Space20 as we celebrate our 20th year!

Edinburgh Comedy Previews, Dogg’s Hamlet and The Shape of Things
1-3 in a series of 20 memorable performances celebrating 20 years at the Space

Edinburgh Comedy Previews

For a number of years, comedians from the Avalon stable polished their material pre-Edinburgh at the Space. Polly Bennett, who championed comedy during her time at the Space recalls, ‘We had some great names perform at the Space in the early days. I remember rushing around trying to purchase low-alcohol lager for Al Murray to spill all over the stage (and worrying that it would be dripping down the hatch onto the piano stored underneath). Harry Hill was also a notable highlight, and we were packed to the rafters. You can’t beat the echo of uncontrollable laugher to a Morrissey soundtrack as it reverberates around the Space. The lowlight, on the other hand, were The Boosh (before they were ‘Mighty’) who were so unrepentantly awful that all but four members of the audience walked out. But we had a great lock-in with them afterwards.’

Dogg’s Hamlet

In November 2007 Adam Hemming and Mari Rettedal-Westlake launched Space Productions, opening with a double bill of Tom Stoppard plays. Inspired by the Space’s location, the duo paired The Real Inspector Hound and Dogg’s Hamlet in a ‘Dog Season’.

In Dogg’s Hamlet, for no perceptible reason once the performance is over, the piece is repeated at thrice the speed. Assistant Director Alex Crampton describes the action in which a group of students and their headmaster attempt to stage Hamlet.

“Undoubtedly the hyper-speed version of ‘Hamlet’ in Dogg’s Hamlet. Limbs, props, costume and an infinite number of lettered boxes were flying. I loved this for three reasons: 1) the show was part of the Dog Season, and the exciting launch for Space Productions. 2) The mania! I love those early days of the Space’s professional shows, the excitement and the fantastic group of people who were there. 3) Mouseholes!”

The madcap energy of the cast which included Katie Beswick, Andrew Venning and Kaijah McMahon as schoolchildren, ensured the performance lived long in the memory.

The Shape of Things

Neil Labute’s The Shape of Things questions the nature of art, intimacy, explorations of love, and people’s willingness to do things for love. It was directed at the Space by Pradeep Jey in 2011. One audience member recalls:-

“Such an unexpected ending, the change in character of Adam was so believable that the revelation at the end was excruciating.”

The jaw-dropping finale to this excellent piece of writing is so brilliant that audiences became deeply involved. The actions of the Evelyn character inspired so much hatred that some audience members couldn’t even bear to talk to the actress in the bar afterwards!

Excellent performances from Paul Hutchinson, Claire Louise Amias, Rachel Cullen and Oliver Rice marked a razor-sharp production which also underlined the Space’s commitment to nurturing new artists. The co-production with A Monkey With Cymbals has allowed that company to grow and create several projects since.

We’re through our first week of the Caucasian Chalk Circle and the reviews are in! We’re a success!

“It is an extraordinarily ensemble piece…the play is a great canvas for showcasing new and exciting talent. With such a dedicated troupe of young actors it is hard to pinpoint particular performances but Charlotte Mafham certainly shines as a torn and desperate Grusha…This is a piece of theatre that is full of character and intrigue and succeeds in arousing opinions and beliefs in its audience. A promising and engaging production for an innovative space that certainly has some bright years ahead.” – Tim Newns, CurtainUp.com

“Space Productions version of is a high-energy, slightly slapstick version of modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht’s epic… The clever and interactive prologue exercises brain cells from the get-go. After that it’s thoughtful and fun theatre all the way. Certainly worth a couple of hours of your evening.” – Steve Madgwick, The Docklands

To read the full review on The Docklands go to
http://www.docklands24.co.uk/what-s-on/theatre/review_the_caucasian_chalk_circle_space_theatre_1_834333
To read the full review on CurtainUp.com go to
http://www.curtainup.com/caucasianlon11.html.

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Now that you’ve heard from our independent, critical sources, come and give us a couple of hours of your evening.

See you soon!
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