Riverside Studios

Riverside Studios

Location	Hammersmith London, W6 United Kingdom
Public transit	Hammersmith (District/Piccadilly) Hammersmith (Circle/Hammersmith & City)
Owner	Riverside Trust
Type	Fringe Theatre, Cinema, Television Studio
Production	Mies Julie, Celebrity Juice, The Apprentice: You're Fired!, The York Realist, The Last Leg, Zambezi Express
Opened	1933 as Riverside Film Studio
Closed	2014 for redevelopment
Website
riversidestudios.co.uk

Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England, that has played host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. In September 2014 the venue closed for redevelopment. It is scheduled to reopen in early 2019.

Film studio

In 1933 a former industrial building in Crisp Road, London, was bought by Triumph Films and converted into a relatively compact film studio complex with two stages and a dubbing theatre. In 1935 the studios were taken over by Julius Hagen (then owner of Twickenham Studios) with the idea of using Riverside as an overflow for making quota quickies. However, by 1937 his company had gone into liquidation. Between 1937 and 1946, the studios were owned by Jack Buchanan and produced such films as We'll Meet Again (1943) with Vera Lynn and The Seventh Veil (1945) with James Mason. In 1946 the studios were acquired by Alliance Film Studios (then owners of Twickenham Studios and Southall Studios) and produced films including They Made Me a Fugitive (1948) with Trevor Howard, The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950) with Alistair Sim and Margaret Rutherford and Father Brown (1954) with Alec Guinness.

BBC Studios

In 1954, the studio was acquired by the British Broadcasting Corporation for its television service.^[1][2] Renamed The BBC Riverside Television Studios,^[3] the building was officially opened on 29 March 1957 by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Series 2 to 6 of Hancock's Half Hour (1957–60) were made there, along with other comedy, drama and music programmes, including the science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59), Dixon of Dock Green, Six-Five Special, Z-Cars, Top of the Pops, the children's programmes Blue Peter^[4] and Play School.^[5] Episodes of Doctor Who were made at Riverside between 1964 and 1968 and Studio 1 was where First Doctor William Hartnell's regeneration scene was filmed.^[6] The facility remained in regular use until the BBC left in 1975.^[7]

Riverside Studios / Riverside Trust

In 1974, a charitable trust formed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council took control of the building, and two large multi-purpose spaces designed by Michael Reardon were created from the Studio's two main sound stages. During the building's conversion in 1974–75, an amateur West London music group called The Strand illicitly used one of the sound stages for several months to rehearse. They went on to become The Sex Pistols.^[8]

In 1976, Peter Gill was appointed Riverside's first Artistic Director and soon established the Studios as a leading London arts venue with acclaimed productions of The Cherry Orchard with Judy Parfitt, Julie Covington and Michael Elphick (1978), The Changeling with Brian Cox and Robert Lindsay (1979), Measure for Measure with Helen Mirren (1979) and Julius Caesar with Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan and Anthony Head.^[9] Gill also afforded free rehearsal space to companies such as the Black Theatre Co-operative (now nitroBEAT).^[10]

During the 1980s, under the leadership of David Gothard, Riverside hosted a huge variety of international productions – including, notably, the work of Polish theatre maestro Tadeusz Kantor, as well as the highly successful Dance Umbrella seasons featuring the work of Rosemary Butcher, Rambert Dance Company and Michael Clark. Subsequently, as Riverside's choreographer in residence, a young Michael Clark made 16 original pieces at the Studios before establishing his own dance company in 1984. Under the direction of Milena Kalinovska, an influential gallery also flourished, exhibiting work by Howard Hodgkin (Prints, 1978),^[11] David Hockney (Paintings and Drawings for Parade, 1981),^[12] Antony Gormley (New Sculpture, 1984), Louise Bourgeois (Recent Work, 1990) and Yoko Ono (In Facing, 1990)^[13] among others. In May 1980 Samuel Beckett directed the San Quentin Theatre Workshop's rehearsals of his play Endgame at Riverside, returning four years later to direct the same company in Waiting for Godot. The Riverside Studios Cinema was opened on 2 November 1987 by actress Vanessa Redgrave.

William Burdett-Coutts (also Artistic Director of Assembly) was appointed Artistic Director of Riverside Studios in 1993.^[14] While Riverside continued its multi-arts programming (hosting companies such as Complicite, The Wooster Group and Howard Barker's The Wrestling School), its 200-seat cinema was celebrated for its double bill programmes and the variety of international film festivals which took place annually. In 1996, television production returned to Riverside when TFI Friday with Chris Evans took up residence in Studio 1 (until 2000). CD:UK was broadcast from Riverside between 2003 and 2006, while later TV projects included Channel 4's T4 (2006–2009) and Popworld, BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks and The Last Leg and ITV's Celebrity Juice (2008–2014).

In September 2014, Riverside closed for redevelopment.

Redevelopment

London developer Mount Anvil, working in conjunction with A2 Dominion, redeveloped the old Riverside Studios and the adjacent Queen's Wharf building. Assael Architecture, were employed to design a new building arrangement on the site centred around 165 residential flats, with new studio facilities for theatre and television, two cinemas, a riverside restaurant and café/bar. For the first time Riverside Studios has its own community and rehearsal space and a local events and entertainment area. As part of the redevelopment, a new riverside walkway connects to the Thames Path alongside the late Victorian Hammersmith Bridge.

During the redevelopment, Riverside continued to produce shows including Nirbhaya^[15] by Yael Farber at a number of international venues including Southbank Centre^[16] and Lynn Redgrave Theatre^[17] (2015), Raz, a new play by Jim Cartwright at Trafalgar Studios (2016)^[18] and A Christmas Carol with Simon Callow at the Arts Theatre (2016–17).^[19] Riverside's digital production team have also recorded a number of theatre and dance productions for broadcast including Land of Our Fathers by Chris Urch,^[20] Northern Ballet's adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four^[21] and Out of Joint's production of The Winters Tale.

A blue plaque produced by the Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group and commemorating Riverside's history was installed at the venue's main entrance in March 2018.

The new Riverside Studios is due to open to the public in early 2019.^[22]

Selected television productions

Selected theatre productions

• The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Joint Stock. Directed by William Gaskill (1978)^[23]
• St. Mark's Gospel devised, directed and performed by Alec McCowen (1978)^[24]
• Mama Dragon by Black Theatre Co-operative (1980)
• The Biko Inquest with Albert Finney, Nigel Davenport and Michael Gough (1984)
• Playing the Right Tune by Benjamin Zephaniah (1985)^[25]
• Twelfth Night with Richard Briers and Frances Barber. Directed by Kenneth Branagh (1988)^[26]
• The Pornography of Performance by The Sydney Front (1989)^[27]
• Hamlet with Alan Rickman and Geraldine McEwan (1992)
• The Seven Streams of the River Ota by Robert Lepage (1994)
• Antony and Cleopatra with Vanessa Redgrave (1994)
• Mnemonic by Complicite (2003)^[28]
• Phèdre with Sheila Gish. Directed by Deborah Warner (2002)
• Scaramouche Jones with Pete Postlethwaite (2002)
• The Exonerated with Stockard Channing, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover and Alanis Morissette. Directed by Bob Balaban (2006)^[29]
• Spectacular by Forced Entertainment (2008)
• 1800 Acres by David Myers with Cathy Tyson (2008)
• The New Electric Ballroom by Enda Walsh (2009)
• Windmill Baby (winner of the Patrick White Playwrights' Award) by David Milroy and Ningali Lawford (2009)
• Salad Days by Tête à Tête (2010/11 and 2012/13)^[30]
• Troilus and Cressida by The Wooster Group and The Royal Shakespeare Company (2010)
• A Round-Heeled Woman: the play with Sharon Gless (2011)^[31]
• Mies Julie adapted from August Strindberg's Miss Julie by Yaël Farber (2013)^[32]

Selected dance productions

• Dance Umbrella (first London Dance Umbrella festival staged at Riverside and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1978)
• Empty Signals by Rosemary Butcher (1978)
• Rush by Michael Clark (1982)
• Set & Reset by Trisha Brown (1983)
• Of Shadows and Walls by Rosemary Butcher (1991)
• Twyla Tharp (1994)^[33]
• Stormforce by Rophin Vianney (2006)
• Episodes of Light by Rosemary Butcher (2008)
• Mamootot by Batsheva Dance Company (2008)
• Havana Rumba by Toby Gough (2009)
• Circa (contemporary circus) (2009)
• Dancing on Your Grave by Lea Anderson's The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs (2009)^[34]
• At Swim Two Boys by Earthfall Dance (2012)
• Chelsea Hotel by Earthfall Dance (2013) ^[35]

Selected live comedy shows

• Lenny Henry (1988)
• Peter Sellers Is Dead (with Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nina Wadia, Kulvinder Ghir and Meera Syal. A precursor to the BBC radio and TV series' Goodness Gracious Me (BBC) (1995)^[36]
• Stand Up South Africa with Mel Miller (comedian) (2002)
• Ed Byrne: Me Again (2004) and Different Class (2008)
• Bill Bailey: Tinselworm (2007)
• Pappy's: Funergy (2009)
• Richard Herring: The Twelve Tasks of Hercules Terrace (2009)
• Julian Clary (2010)
• Carl Barron (2011)
• Rhod Gilbert
• Wil Anderson
• Count Arthur Strong: The Man Behind the Smile

Selected music performances

• Toyah (1979)
• Sigue Sigue Sputnik (24th July 1985)
• Van Morrison and The Chieftans (1988)
• Prince (1999)
• David Bowie^[37] (2003)
• Annie Lennox (2003)^[38]
• Pink (2003)
• Metallica^[39] (2003)
• Amy Winehouse^[40] (2008)
• Stereophonics (2008)
• Kelis (2010)
• Lionel Richie
• Oasis
• Tom Robinson hosted live recording sessions for his BBC Radio 6 Music radio show, show Introducing...^[41] in Studio 3.

Photos

Riverside Studios at night

Panorama of the terrace at Riverside Studios

References

• Staging Beckett in Great Britain, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama (2016) ISBN 9781474240178

External links

• Riverside Studios – official site
• Riverside TV Studios Ltd
• The Riverside Story
• Riverside Studios history

Coordinates: 51°29′17.9″N 0°13′41.1″W / 51.488306°N 0.228083°W / 51.488306; -0.228083