Bridget Christie and Stewart Lee headline fundraiser for burnt-out BAC

Published: 29 March 2015
Reporter: Sandra Giorgetti

Battersea Arts Centre - the results of the fire on 13 March Credit: London Fire Brigade
Battersea Arts Centre - open for business Credit: James Allan
Grade II* listed building - Battersea Arts Centre's dome Credit: London Fire Brigade

Hosted by London's Southbank Centre on 18 April, comedians and real life married couple Bridget Christie and Stewart Lee will headline a fundraising event to benefit Battersea Arts Centre which faces the challenge of huge repairs following a fire there on 13 March.

80 fire–fighters tackled the blaze and saved large parts of the Grade II* listed former town hall building which is currently undergoing development. Fire officers were able to salvage valuable art work and to save much of the building including the dome.

The cause of the fire is not yet known; no one was injured in the blaze.

In the meantime BAC's Taking A Stand season goes ahead although some shows will be housed in alterative venues.

Taking A Stand is a series of politically engaged shows and events taking place in the run-up to the election:

  • Confirmation by Chris Thorpe and Rachel Chavkin challenges prejudices when it ask if we can have real dialogue with someone with whom we fundamentally disagree.
  • In show-game The Money Kaleider, the box office takings are handed over to the audience who must unanimously decide on the best way to spend the money before the evening is out.
  • Stand is a collection of verbatim stories from people who stood up for something they believed in from award-winning theatre-maker Chris Goode and Company and Oxford Playhouse.
  • Early Days (of a better nation) is an interactive theatre piece that explores the possibilities of nationhood and democracy.
  • Comedian and political activist Mark Thomas presents two shows: Cuckooed which tells a true story of hubris, deception, planes and betrayal and Bravo Figaro! about Thomas's relationship with his seriously ill father.
  • Two-woman show Backstage in Biscuit Land returns looking at the rights of Jess Thom, who has Tourettes, to be treated equally and access experiences both in and outside of the theatre
  • Palestinian theatre company Freedom Theatre brings The Siege to BAC as the London stop on its first UK and Ireland tour. Inspired by real-life testimonies, the show tells the story of the Palestinian fighters who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during the second Intifada in 2002.

The venue has also launched its spring and summer Cook Up season. Highlights for the summer include:

  • Like Mother, Like Daughter from Complicite Creative Learning and Why Not Theatre
  • Until You Hear That Bell, written and played by Sean Mahoney
  • This Is How We Die, the début show by Christopher Brett Bailey

Tickets may be booked with BAC but note that some show may take place in alternative venues. The fund raising campaign continues on line batterseaartscentre.wordpress.com.

Tickets for the 18 April fundraising event may be purchased via the Southbank Centre.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

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