The Red Shoes

The Council Chamber has always been one of Battersea Arts Centre’s main performance spaces. Until February 2011 it was a black box space, with a permanent seating rake.
In March 2011 Kneehigh returned to Battersea Arts Centre with their award winning show The Red Shoes which had originally been staged in the Council Chamber. We used that opportunity to return the space to its original form, the idea being that artists should be able to use and respond to it, almost casting it as a character in their productions. The black paint was stripped; the permanent rake was taken out and replaced with a flexible system which could be used throughout the building.

The result for The Red Shoes was a completely new and flexible approach to staging. It also allowed for the space to be used for commercial purposes and now the Council Chamber is regularly hired for functions and events.