PASSION, PULSE AND POWER
Over the years Free Theatre has worked with a number of different designers, including Graham Bennett, Rudolf Boelee, Tony Geddes, Lawrence Wallen, Mark McEntyre, Peter Robinson, Richard Till, Paul McCaffrey, Chris Reddington and Stuart Lloyd-Harris. These collaborations are integral to the development of Free Theatre productions, the work evolving as a dialogue between director, designer and performers. As the names above suggest, designers for Free Theatre productions are usually visual or sound artists who bring to the collaboration a particular perspective that directly effects what the work becomes. Artists have also commented on the effect working in the theatre has had on their own practice.
Free Theatre often uses spaces that may not be considered conventional for theatre, the choice arising from the ideas being explored in the performance. While the Free Theatre in The Arts Centre has always been the company's home base, productions have been staged all over Christchurch. During the 2000's for example, Free Theatre staged productions at the open performance space of Old Queen's Theatre at 120 Hereford St and the basement space of Nibelheim located under the Old Library in the Arts Centre, although performances were also staged during this time in outdoor locations such as Cathedral Square (Last Days of Mankind) and the WWII gun emplacements above Lyttelton, in nightclubs (Bakkhai/Diotek) and in shopping malls (Christmas Shopping). Post-earthquakes, the company has produced work in churches (The Earthquake in Chile), former tanneries (Hereafter) and performance workshops (I Sing the Body Electric).
Free Theatre often uses spaces that may not be considered conventional for theatre, the choice arising from the ideas being explored in the performance. While the Free Theatre in The Arts Centre has always been the company's home base, productions have been staged all over Christchurch. During the 2000's for example, Free Theatre staged productions at the open performance space of Old Queen's Theatre at 120 Hereford St and the basement space of Nibelheim located under the Old Library in the Arts Centre, although performances were also staged during this time in outdoor locations such as Cathedral Square (Last Days of Mankind) and the WWII gun emplacements above Lyttelton, in nightclubs (Bakkhai/Diotek) and in shopping malls (Christmas Shopping). Post-earthquakes, the company has produced work in churches (The Earthquake in Chile), former tanneries (Hereafter) and performance workshops (I Sing the Body Electric).