IN PICTURES: MY TOP 10 PHOTOS BY DAVID LEVENE
Roundhouse has been good to me – it’s given me so many pictures! I first photographed here almost 10 years ago in March 2007 for the Guardian, covering Tim Supple’s Indian production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It was my first job here and I got the best view in the house – straight down from the lighting grid just below the ceiling. I emptied my pockets so that nothing would fall and injure anyone and went out bouncing around up there with only a thin wire netting separating me and the actors on stage below. The picture made it in the Guardian’s Eyewitness centre spread and remains to this day one of my favourite images of the Roundhouse because of how well it shows off the unique interior space.
I’ve since photographed many more productions held at Roundhouse and each one presents its own fresh challenges and dramatic results. The in-house teams and visiting companies are always so accommodating, helping out all the access I should need, tinkering with lighting and even re-running scenes so I can get the best results. I’ve been lucky to have such great help here over the years and I hope the images do justice to those who’ve given it to me.
March 2007 - dress rehearsals for Tim Supple's acclaimed Indian production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. 30 tonnes of mud was brought from Devon and sifted down to a comfortable grain size for the stage. This particular mud is very red in colour in order to give a feel of India. Two years in the making, the show (commissioned and presented by the British Council) caused a sensation in India where it played in Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Kolkata (Calcutta). This was the first play to be performed in the Roundhouse after its redevelopment.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
April 2016 - Finnish ensemble Race Horse Company had people on the edge of their seats with 'Super Sunday', which featured a human catapult, teeterboard and the Wheel of Death! At 8 metres long, it was the first time the Wheel of Death had appeared in the Roundhouse since it reopened in 2006.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
January 2013 - The 'Mylar' (Water Tanks) section of 'Fuerzabruta' (which translates to “brute force”), an Argentinean-founded multi-sensory spectacular created by artistic director Diqui James and musical director Gaby Kerpel. In this section transparent water tanks are slowly lowered from the ceiling to just above head height. The audience who are stood across the floor space can reach up and touch the soft tank as the performers move and swim around above them.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
July 2013 - Dress (or undress!) rehearsals for Robert Lepage's production 'Playing Cards 1: SPADES.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
January 2015 - Mary Bevan (Euridice) has burns make-up applied mid-performance, during Act 3 of 'Orfeo', a collaboration between the Roundhouse and the Royal Opera.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
April 2015 - Circolombia took the Roundhouse by storm back in 2011 with their explosive debut show 'Urban'. This image is from 'Acelere', their triumphant 2015 return.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
August 2015 - Award-winning filmmaker, writer and artist Penny Woolcock took over the Main Space with 'Utopia', a major installation realised in collaboration with Block9, the designers famous for creating the extravagant fantasy worlds of Glastonbury’s after-hours stage.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
April 2016 - 'Me, Mother' brought together some of the country’s strongest and fittest women and divulged the trials and joys of becoming a mother and the challenge to their professional lives.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
April 2016 - The world premiere of 'Kin' by BMT was the follow-up to sold-out 'Bromance' and combined exceptional acrobatic skills with contemporary dance, parkour, b-boying and tricking.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
August 2016 - Ron Arad's 'Curtain Call' saw the internationally renowned artist, architect and designer bring his incredible 360˚ installation back to the Roundhouse in 2016, complete with new commissions from some of his favourite artists.
Credit: David Levene, under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
