Hoxton Story
Encyclopedia
Hoxton Story is an epic and poetic multi-plot fable
marking the 10th Anniversary of the multi-award winning theatre
company The Red Room
.
was put on the cultural and media map in the 1990s for its fame as a groovy district of loft apartments and the stomping ground for artists that came to be collectively known as the yba’s - Young British Artists
. The area was also identified as in severe need of urban regeneration and the government promised an influx of funding to improve housing and social amenities.
Lisa Goldman, Artistic Director of The Red Room
and the Red Room team spent periods between 2004 - 2005 interviewing residents of Hoxton housing estates to find out just what has changed for them. Their perspectives form the basis of the production of Hoxton Story. Goldman also took inspiration from the relationship between William Shakespeare
and the Hoxton area. Shakespeare was once a Hoxton resident and most of the houses in the surrounding estates are named after characters in several of his plays; the sub-plot of Hoxton Story is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet
.
Collaborating artists included writer and director Lisa Goldman; set designer Jon Bausor; contemporary artist
Leo Asemota
; lighting designer
Jenny Kagan; sound designer Kate Tierney and digital artists Elvina Flower and James Smith. Performers from Hackney's Young People's Theatre worked alongside a group of actors that included Tam Dean Burn
. The Producer was Tim Jones of Solar Associates.
Hoxton Story opened on September 10, 2005 at Hoxton Hall
to sold out performances.
activists and artists. The interviews explores their dreams, disappointments and achievements in relation to the land and environment of Hoxton, as home, work and recreation; as public space and as capital waiting to be realized.
The book also features a newly commissioned portfolio of portraits by Leo Asemota
of the residents that were interviewed.
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
marking the 10th Anniversary of the multi-award winning theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
company The Red Room
The Red Room Theatre Company
The Red Room Theatre Company is one of the most high profile London theatre companies.It was founded in 1995 by as a voluntary organisation, and became regularly funded by Arts Council England in 2002 and then achieved charitable status in 2006...
.
Inspiration
HoxtonHoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
was put on the cultural and media map in the 1990s for its fame as a groovy district of loft apartments and the stomping ground for artists that came to be collectively known as the yba’s - Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
. The area was also identified as in severe need of urban regeneration and the government promised an influx of funding to improve housing and social amenities.
Lisa Goldman, Artistic Director of The Red Room
The Red Room Theatre Company
The Red Room Theatre Company is one of the most high profile London theatre companies.It was founded in 1995 by as a voluntary organisation, and became regularly funded by Arts Council England in 2002 and then achieved charitable status in 2006...
and the Red Room team spent periods between 2004 - 2005 interviewing residents of Hoxton housing estates to find out just what has changed for them. Their perspectives form the basis of the production of Hoxton Story. Goldman also took inspiration from the relationship between William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and the Hoxton area. Shakespeare was once a Hoxton resident and most of the houses in the surrounding estates are named after characters in several of his plays; the sub-plot of Hoxton Story is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
.
The Production
Hoxton Story was an intimate site-specific walkabout performance through a regenerated London community. A visual and aural montage of facts, fictions and verbatim testimony culminating sound and video installations around Hoxton, an interactive website, on the street performances, a book and interview archive.Collaborating artists included writer and director Lisa Goldman; set designer Jon Bausor; contemporary artist
New media art
New media art is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, computer robotics, and art as biotechnology...
Leo Asemota
Leo Asemota
Leo Asemota is a contemporary artist living and working in London, England. Asemota employs photography, film and video, performance, sculpture, drawings and various progressions in his work....
; lighting designer
Lighting designer
The role of the lighting designer within theatre is to work with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost...
Jenny Kagan; sound designer Kate Tierney and digital artists Elvina Flower and James Smith. Performers from Hackney's Young People's Theatre worked alongside a group of actors that included Tam Dean Burn
Tam Dean Burn
Tam Dean Burn is a Scottish actor who has played a wide range of roles on stage and screen, including in Taggart. Recent theatrical roles include being the narrator of the 2009 play 'Year of the Horse', about artist Harry Horse.-External links:*...
. The Producer was Tim Jones of Solar Associates.
Hoxton Story opened on September 10, 2005 at Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall is a community centre and performance space in Hoxton, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney.A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a Music hall in 1863, as MacDonald's Music hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon-style...
to sold out performances.
Hoxton Story - The Book
A book also titled HOXTON STORY was published to accompany the production. The book contained extracts from in depth interviews conducted by The Red Room team with twenty-five Hoxton residents that included squatters, council workers, communityCommunity
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
activists and artists. The interviews explores their dreams, disappointments and achievements in relation to the land and environment of Hoxton, as home, work and recreation; as public space and as capital waiting to be realized.
The book also features a newly commissioned portfolio of portraits by Leo Asemota
Leo Asemota
Leo Asemota is a contemporary artist living and working in London, England. Asemota employs photography, film and video, performance, sculpture, drawings and various progressions in his work....
of the residents that were interviewed.