Nick Thompson & Clare Ferraby Interview: Removing Matcham
Title
Nick Thompson & Clare Ferraby Interview: Removing Matcham
Date
18 May 2018
Description
Oral history interview with Nick Thompson and Clare Ferraby, architect and designer of the refurbished Theatre Royal in 1977.
What's the story?
Clare Ferraby started as a freelance designer in London in 1963 when she was 25, and married Nicholas Thompson, a young architect, who went on to become a leading light of the theatre architects’ practice RHWL three years later.
RHWL were commissioned to oversee the rebuilding of the Theatre Royal in the 1970s, following the success of projects at Sheffield Crucible and Warwick Arts Centre.
In a recent interview for The Stage Clare spoke of her craft:
“I’ve always looked at the history of the theatres I’ve worked on. It is important for me to have a feeling for the soul of the building before I develop new ideas. Every theatre has its own distinctive soul. With the older buildings, I look at the detail to understand the original designer’s intention.
The great Victorian theatre architects Matcham, Sprague and Phipps wanted to get everything right and I understand that. You want everything to fall into place and fit together, like a painting.”
As part of the Theatre Royal’s heritage work Nick Thompson & Clare Ferraby have kindly loaned us items from their private collection revealing their work on the Theatre Royal, which can be found elsewhere on this site.
In this interview Nick and Clare talk about the serious task of removing the Matcham decoration from the auditorium. Although they state that Matcham “was a bit lost here” and his true work in Nottingham could have been found in the Empire next door.
Nick: [We] got rid of all the Matcham decoration around those boxes and revamped the boxes. Quite a serious thing to do. You’re throwing out the work of the most famous British theatre architect. I’d say I don’t think very much of it. You could have done better. But we did take bits of the boxes and put them above the doors to the auditorium. So we weren’t totally dishonest. We liked bits of it, we just didn’t like where they were. Clare: Exactly. Nick: And it wasn’t Matcham. You know you look at images of the Empire, that’s Matcham, that’s gutsy, regal, splendid, I’ll take a bit of this and a bit of that. I can have great fun, there’s going to be an Indian, we’ll go for it, let’s make it an entertainment place. He was a bit lost here.
RHWL were commissioned to oversee the rebuilding of the Theatre Royal in the 1970s, following the success of projects at Sheffield Crucible and Warwick Arts Centre.
In a recent interview for The Stage Clare spoke of her craft:
“I’ve always looked at the history of the theatres I’ve worked on. It is important for me to have a feeling for the soul of the building before I develop new ideas. Every theatre has its own distinctive soul. With the older buildings, I look at the detail to understand the original designer’s intention.
The great Victorian theatre architects Matcham, Sprague and Phipps wanted to get everything right and I understand that. You want everything to fall into place and fit together, like a painting.”
As part of the Theatre Royal’s heritage work Nick Thompson & Clare Ferraby have kindly loaned us items from their private collection revealing their work on the Theatre Royal, which can be found elsewhere on this site.
In this interview Nick and Clare talk about the serious task of removing the Matcham decoration from the auditorium. Although they state that Matcham “was a bit lost here” and his true work in Nottingham could have been found in the Empire next door.
Nick: [We] got rid of all the Matcham decoration around those boxes and revamped the boxes. Quite a serious thing to do. You’re throwing out the work of the most famous British theatre architect. I’d say I don’t think very much of it. You could have done better. But we did take bits of the boxes and put them above the doors to the auditorium. So we weren’t totally dishonest. We liked bits of it, we just didn’t like where they were. Clare: Exactly. Nick: And it wasn’t Matcham. You know you look at images of the Empire, that’s Matcham, that’s gutsy, regal, splendid, I’ll take a bit of this and a bit of that. I can have great fun, there’s going to be an Indian, we’ll go for it, let’s make it an entertainment place. He was a bit lost here.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Interviewers: Stephen Bray & Liz Mackenzie
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
