West 12 - more than four stars!

Date: 10 Mar 2009

West 12, a Land Securities shopping centre located in Shepherds Bush has had an overnight success story with the staging of ‘Stovepipe’ in its basement, scooping a four-star rating from both The Telegraph’s Charles Spencer (March 10th ) and The Metro (March 12th) as well as a five-star rating from Time Out (March 16th)!

Charles Spencer hailed Adam Brace’s promenade piece, a High Tide production performed by an excellent ensemble cast of five as “the most exciting theatrical thriller in town”! These accolades have been coming in hard and fast since the press night on Monday 9th March 2009 when the secret location for the play became known.

Stovepipe is a striking dramatisation of former journalist Adam Brace's experiences of Amman. Honest, stark and immediately arresting, it delivers a vision of a post-war Middle East. The basement has been transformed to depict various compelling scenes which the audience move through as the cleverly constructed plot unfolds.

Says Danielle Charles Marketing Manager for West 12: “The acting is intense but the performances are very persuasive due to the array of authentic accents. My favourites are Sargon Yelda, who is hugely convincing, and Christian Bradley who does the South African accent beautifully.”

This innovative use of basement space, and creation of a win-win relationship is due to the foresight of West12’s centre manager. Jason King, who has a strong literary background, identified the basement as an ideal location for the show after discussions with Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Bush Theatre. The use of dead space to support the arts ticked all the right boxes for West 12, both from a void strategy perspective and in predicating the centre’s strong community ethos.

The theatre company have jumped in and breathed life into a rather derelict basement, as well as adding new interest to the mall by creating a box office and meeting point. Says Jason King: “Most of the set building was done while I was on annual leave and I was pleasantly surprised at the transformation after three weeks’ holiday in warmer climes”.

Be that as it may, Stovepipe is a catalyst for more to come as Atlantic House, the office block on Rockley Road, is earmarked as the venue for rehearsals and castings of two further productions with strong environmental themes. Moving forward West 12 will enjoy an enhanced status as a patron of the local theatre with the centre’s branding on all of Bush Theatre’s marketing collateral!

West 12 is indeed worth more than four stars!

Jason King, Centre Manager West 12; Caroline Dyott, Asst Producer The Bush Theatre; 

and Josie Rourke, Director of The Bush Theatre

Danielle Charles, Marketing Manager West 12; Jason King, Centre Manager 

West 12 with two of the Stovepipe cast: Sargon Yelda and Christian Bradley