Nottingham’s Television Workshop is moving from its basement premises at 49 Stoney Street after more than thirty years...
The workshop, which trains young actors in acting for stage and screen have been residents in the downstairs studio in Hockley since 1985. Their move sees them leave their famous basement behind and head over to Richmond House on Canal Street.
Explaining the move, Workshop Director Nic Harvey said: “It was necessary to secure the future of the workshop, because our ethos is heavily focused on diversity. To truly achieve this we needed a space without stairs! For the first time we can invite applications from young people who have access requirements. In the new space we can also make our stage productions more public, more visible and open for all. It has the potential to be a really buzzing creative space and allows us to bring greater opportunities to our students, be more welcoming to the public and to collaborate with other companies and artists more easily."
"Whilst The workshop will always remember and respect the amazing work and incredible memories made down in our basement home over the last 32 years, it is time to grow and move with the times. The sale of the Stoney street building has meant we have had to bring forward our moving plans, but the fact remains that this relocation is a golden opportunity and an exciting new chapter for Workshop members and our amazing support network and audiences."
The new building Richmond House is a new project in partnership between The Howie Smith Project, which has helped regenerate buildings for City Arts and Nottingham Writers Studio, and the Stone Soup Academy, an alternative provision school based on Hight Pavement. It's one of a series of bold changes made by Harvey, who took over the Workshop from Ian Smith in 2015.
Famous Television Workshop alumni who have trained in the current premises include Samantha Morton, Jack O’Connell, Vicky McClure, Mista Jam, Joe Dempsie, Bella Ramsay, Aisling Loftus and many more. Here’s how some of them reacted to the news on Twitter:
@tvworkshopnottm one of my favourite memories of workshop! Makes me laugh every time! #basement #pasturesnew
— Georgia Groome (@Georgia_Groome) January 12, 2017
@tvworkshopnottm A cellar that has produced so many top performers & creatives...once affectionately discribed as 'that scooped out turd'!
— Ian Kirkby (@TheIanKirkby) January 14, 2017
last day at the basement with @BellaRamsey❤️ new site here we come✨ pic.twitter.com/w1tkMEU7C5
— Sennia Lola Nanua (@sennialn) 28 January 2017
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