Blue-sky thinking as wraps come off Birmingham Repertory Theatre
The wraps were today coming off the glittering new Birmingham Repertory Theatre as award-winning musician Soweto Kinch was the first performer to test out the venue's new facilities.
The Birmingham star, who has won MOBOs and British Jazz Awards as well as being nominated for the Mercury Prize, tested out the acoustics in The Studio the new auditorium shared by the Library of Birmingham and Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
And he was at the Centenary Square site today to give a test drive of the new stage.
The first production in the new Studio will be the world premiere of a staged performance of Kinch's latest album The Legend of Mike Smith which opens in September.
The brand new auditorium, which is decked out with vibrant red seats and warm walnut walls, connects the newly-built £188 million Library of Birmingham to the freshly refurbished Rep theatre.
Roxana Silbert, artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre said: "The Studio is a vibrant new addition to Birmingham's cultural scene.
It will enable The Rep to offer a more diverse range of shows for our audiences, whilst offering the Library an ideal venue for its programme of talks, readings and community events.
We're thrilled to be working with Soweto Kinch to bring his staging of The Legend of Mike Smith to life. He's an extraordinary local artist with an international profile and the show will be a fantastic opener for The Studio."
The opening programme in The Studio also includes the premiere reading of Alan Bennett's play Denmark Hill on September 3.
