The Belgrade Theatre

Written By Paul Roberts

b.a.t.e. blog @ research #1 

Britain’s First Civic Theatre

When it opened, in March 1958, the Belgrade was the first new professional theatre to be constructed in Britain for nearly two decades and the country’s first all-new civic theatre. Financially supported by Coventry City Council and designed in the City Architect’s office, the theatre was built with a traditional proscenium design and an auditorium seating capacity of 910 people. Envisioned as a public and civic space, it was intended to house repertory (fixed-term, short) runs, touring productions, occasional lettings to amateur societies, conferences, and concerts. The Belgrade, whose name commemorated a major gift of timber to the city of Coventry from the, then, Yugoslav authorities, was regarded as the herald of a new age, built as a symbol for post-war recovery. Construction marked the beginning of a boom in British theatre design which lasted until the beginning of the 1980’s.

A New Vision

Originally conceived as an idea during World War II, the provision of a new theatre had first been proposed in a series of plans for the reconstruction of central Coventry, following substantial damage in 1940. With a significant part of the city centre destroyed by bombing raids, Coventry came to stand for suffering during conflict for much of Europe. Reconstruction was ordered to be bold, not least because of its symbolic significance, with existing street layouts erased and new entertainment spaces encouraged. The idea of building a theatre gained momentum, as the possibility of receiving state and regional subsidy developed, with the local government act of 1948 providing councils with discretionary powers to levy a rate for contribution towards the arts (sixpence in the pound). Significantly, the rate could be spent on buildings and entertainment. Coventry embraced this and sought about building a new theatre in the city that represented a more democratic venue for civic repertory operations and one that could be emblematic of a renewed city. Once built, the Belgrade was representative in physical terms, as a prominent civic building within a new cityscape, and with symbolic reference, engendering continuing civic consciousness and a sense of local identity.

At the Heart of the City

The public areas, which functioned as transitional spaces, looked to bring individuals together to form a collective and democratic body of the audience. Galleries, café bars and restaurants were the backdrop to a new form of foyer experience in British theatre, designed to be egalitarian, moving people out of the auditorium and into communal areas. Open, and with large banks of glass, the foyers brought daylight to what would have been a darkened space, making the outside visible, changing the theatre’s relationship with its surroundings. The use of light and colour and the placement of mosaic, and panels depicting Coventry’s rich history, gave the community a sense of understanding their surroundings which forged a civic pride.

Traditional Stage Values

Commissioned by the local authority, the Belgrade was designed in-house by the City Architect, using modern theory and practice. With limited consultation, critical and ill-informed design decisions were made, leaving the stage and backstage facilities inadequate and open to criticism. The result of which was a fan-shaped auditorium, with design principles based on the traditional horseshoe shape of older theatres, limiting ability to adapt to the needs of new forms of theatre. The stage, with constraints in size, and backstage restrictions on space and practicality, provides evidence of the theatres early design date in the new post-war wave of public theatre building in Britain - and of a period prior to the advent of real consultation in design.

The Emerging Expert

Only three years after the Belgrade was completed, in 1961 the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) was formed as a response to what was seen as a lack of specialist knowledge in the design of new forms of theatres. The ABTT, acting as a community of information exchange, was swiftly followed by a second membership of specialists, the Society of Theatre Consultants (STC), who acted as a fee-paying accredited body. The STC believed theatres were being opened with inadequate stage lighting provision, crude machinery and poor audience facilities. With little capital available for performing arts venues the STC was created to inform practice as precious money was, too often, being spent on inadequate buildings.

The Importance of the Belgrade

Designed to be a functional and democratic space, shaped by the practical needs of the city, the Belgrade acted as a symbol of civic presence for a community – one shaped by local, regional, national, and global events. A theatre of further importance; firstly, the Belgrade ushered in a new wave of publicly subsidised and civic designed spaces; secondly, the flaws in design confirmed this new period of construction needed an emerging collective of specialists. The Belgrade proved to be a catalyst in developing a network of expertise which grew to influence design practice, shaping the cultural and theoretical relations of production, changing disparate technologies in a socially and culturally evolving Britain.

Paul Roberts