(^26) Hampshire Life: February 2019
city. We recently launched the self-starters
initiative, as it should also be somewhere
that artists themselves are making things
happen.”
James Gough, director of Southampton
Cultural Development Trust, which
brought together the various partners
behind the ten-year plan to build Studio
144 – the Department of Media, Sport and
Culture, the Arts Council and, not least,
Southampton City Council, agrees on the
difference the arts can make to city life.
“It’s long been an ambition to have a
cultural focal point that the city can be
proud of. And to have organisations within
such a space that can be both a platform
and catalyst for change.”
The opportunity to collaborate in
building new audiences and at the same
time being able to broaden their appeal
new venue and audiences will come; it
takes work and face-to-face conversations.
But through some careful programming
(including the story of SS Mendi Dancing
the Death Drill, which this year transfers to
the Royal Opera House) and some tireless
work by the likes of Tracey Cruickshank,
our community engagement producer, our
public spaces are beginning to fill-up with
people who understand that NST City can
be theirs.”
It’s an idea about which Sam is
passionate, and one which was whole-
heartedly embraced in NST City’s launch
production of The Shadow Factory last
February.
“The show sold-out, which was brilliant,
and involved a big community chorus. It
really showed why producing theatres are
important.”
The good news is that a re-run of the
play, based on Southampton’s hidden
World War Two Spitfire factories, is
being staged until 2 March, providing
a fascinating insight into the city’s past.
Describing their first 12 months, as “both
exhilarating and challenging”, Sam is
upbeat.
“One of the most fulfilling parts of the
year has been the relationships that we’ve
begun to cultivate and deepen with a
genuinely broad spectrum of people from
across Southampton’s communities; from
older residents who can remember the
shadow factories, to a spoken word and rap
collective made up of young people who
represent the diverse and vibrant cultures
of Southampton’s Newtown area.”
Whilst the Nuffield’s youth theatre
remains a hotbed for burgeoning creative
talent, the so-called Nuffield Laboratory
also has its sights set firmly on the future.
“Our artists’ develop programme works
across both our two spaces and across the
The new auditorium at NST City can seat 450 people
The production of SS Mendi: Dancing The Death Drill transfers to the Royal Opera House in 2019
Photo: Richard Davenport
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