This is the Old Fire Station.
An arts centre in the heart of Oxford, showcasing the best of local, national and international performance and artwork, which takes a risk and entertains.
A new kind of pubic space.
- Theatre, comedy, dance, music, visual art and design.
- Space for performance, exhibitions, rehearsals, meetings, classes, innovation and debate.
- Working closely with the homelessness charity, Crisis, helping to build the confidence and skills of people who are homeless through projects and opportunities.
oldfirestation.org.uk
The Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ
Old Fire Station - Arts Workshop
Oxford homeless artists at the Botanic Gardens Workshop.
The Old Fire Station in Oxford was redeveloped in 2011 for use as a homeless support and training facility along with a separate community arts charity.
Crisis Skylight Oxford is a training centre providing creative and formal learning opportunities to homeless and vulnerably housed people and a dedicated employment service which helps them find and keep jobs.
Arts at the Old Fire Station is a social enterprise project comprising a gallery, theatre and dance studio along with drama and music workshops for artists. There is also a shop selling original work by artists and designers. The studios are available to hire for classes, rehearsals and meetings.
The Crisis Skylight Cafe provides on-the-job training, as well as great city centre food and drink to the wider public.
Acknowledgement:
Music: Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing (
bit.do/dreaming_spires_uk
ARTHUR AND ESTHER by Ross Howard - at Arts at the Old Fire Station
Off the Canvas and Red Dog Theatre Co present:
ARTHUR AND ESTHER
by Ross Howard
30th - 31st May ~ 3rd - 5th June
at Arts at the Old Fire Station as part of Oxford Fringe Festival
A librarian made redundant through the closure of his library wrestles with suicide methods that hurt the least, while his wife waits impatiently. But where does she wait?
A play of two worlds, this elemental and affecting two-hander explores love, loss and the lives we inherit and impose on others.
“- full of both outrageous dark comedy and deep sincerity – an ultimately compelling night of theatre” nytheatre.com
‘Best of Fringe’ at Las Vegas Fringe Festival 2010
UK premiere of Ross Howard’s 2007 acclaimed dark comedy.
Starring Ian Gain and Katie Baugh
Directed by Abbie Lucas.
£10, concessions £8. Box office: 01865 305305.
Marmalade at the Old Fire Station
Running parallel with the Skoll World Forum 13 – 17 April 2015 , Marmalade at the Old Fire Station was co-ordinated by inspired individuals and independent organisations, offering everyone the chance to create and attend events focused on social change.
Participants include B-Corporation, Ashoka, Arts Council England Crisis and UnLtd.
WATCH MORE:
Overview of Art & Money
B-Lab on the Couch
Women @ The Table
An event by Arts at the Old Fire Station
Host your own event for social change for free with MARMALADE.IO
THE PULSE
The Pulse was a collaboration beween professional dancers and homeless people.
The project was delivered by Oxford Dance Forum as part of the 'Home-Bed' professional development programme, in collaboration with Arts at the Old Fire Station and Crisis Skylight Oxford.
Artistic Co-Directors: Hannah de Cancho and Emma Goodwin
Film and Edit: WWW.URBAN-CONCEPTZ.COM
More information on the Old Fire Station website: oldfirestation.org.uk
Before The Tempest: Part 1
Before the Tempest imagines what life was like on the island for Miranda and Prospero as a prequel to Shakespeare’s classic tale of love, magic and bad weather.
The play is the result of this 2015's Hidden Spire project, which brings together a team of professional artists to make a show from scratch alongside people who are homeless. It’s a collaboration and we wrote, devised and built for 14 months to create the production you see here.
It’s about isolation and belonging, despair and forgiveness. It’s about wanting to fit in and being different. It’s about growing up. And it’s about birds.
Before The Tempest was performed 17 - 19 September 2015 at the Old Fire Station, Oxford.
Find out more: oldfirestation.org.uk; hiddenspire.co.uk
Film: Akanbe Films - akanbefilms.com
#HiddenSpire
Mental Health Awareness Day Performance at Old Fire Station, Oxford, 14th March
Don Alfonso
Taken from Correctness Gone Mad, a comedy sketch show written by Craig Holmes and Andy Murray, and performed in Oxford, England in early 2009. This recording was made on 8th March 2009 at the Old Fire Station Studio Theatre. It stars, in order of appearance Joe Morpurgo and Andy Murray.
This video combines parts one and two of the sketch.
For more information, go to our website - gelasticband.co.uk
Oxford Contact Dance, 13 Sept. 2014
A slide show of Oxford Contact Dance on 13 Sept. 2014 at the Old Fire Station in Oxford, England. Examples of dancing contact improvisation. Web: Note: this film has no sound.
'ART & MONEY' with Jeremy Spafford. A venue's perspective
Jeremy Spafford, Director of Arts at the Old Fire Station, gives an venues’s perspective on the topic of 'Art & Money - Where is the change?' hosted by Arts at the Old Fire Station.
The ARTIST'S perspective
The FUNDER'S perspective
OVERVIEW
Read the report:
Art and money – Where’s the change?’ was a day of open debates hosted by Arts at Old Fire Station, as part of Oxford Marmalade 2015. Sir Peter Bazalgette (Chair of Arts Council England), Hedley Swain (Area Director South East at Arts Council England) and Jane Tarr (Director Organisational Resilience and Environmental Sustainability and North) joined artists, arts managers and professionals to explore how the arts, business and social change meet.
Find out more about Marmalade at the Old Fire Station
Please note that audio switches between microphones due to unexpected interference.
Arts at the Old Fire Station
Twitter
Working Christmas
BOOK NOW:
6 - 23 December, times vary. £15/£12 from oldfirestation.org.uk or 01865 263990.
In this city, you can be next-door neighbours, but live in totally different worlds.
Omar’s doing his best to ignore Christmas, but somehow he’s ended up at the messy end of another student party. Jo might as well work through the holidays. Her kids don’t want to see her anyway. They could both do with a friend. They could both do with some actual fun…
Stuffed full of love, songs and silliness, this is a sparkling new Christmas play for grown-ups, created specially for Oxford.
Coconut by Guleraana Mir
Coconut by Guleraana Mir.
Touring in May & June 2018
For booking links please visit:
Meet Rumi, a British Pakistani woman who's referred to as a 'Coconut' (brown on the outside, white on the inside). Born and brought up as a Muslim, Rumi spends more time enjoying fine wine and bacon than being at the mosque. When she meets Simon, a white guy, she hopes that his decision to convert to Islam will be enough to keep everyone happy. However, as Simon begins to explore his faith, Rumi's world spins off its axis in ways she could never have predicted.
National Tour
16th May - ARC Stockton Arts Centre, Stockton on Tees Dovecot Street, Stockton on Tees, TS18 1LL
19th May - Derby Theatre, Derby15 Theatre Walk, St Peter’s Quarter, Derby, DE1 2NF
24th May - Oldham Coliseum, Oldham Fairbottom Street, Oldham, OL1 3SW
26th May - The Curve Slough, William Street, Slough, SL1 1XY
18th June - Guildhall Arts Centre, GranthamSt. Peter’s Hill, Grantham, NG31 6PZ
19th June - Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton Upon Trent Union Street, Burton Upon Trent, DE14 1EB
25th June - Old Fire Station Oxford as part of Off Beat Festival, 40 George St, Oxford OX1 2AQ
27th June - Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln Freeschool Lane, Lincoln, LN2 1EY
28th June - Old Library, Mansfield, Leeming Street, Mansfield, NG18 1NG
29th June - South Holland Centre, Spalding23 Market Place, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 1SS
30th June - Attenborough Arts Centre, LeicesterUniversity of Leicester, Lancaster Road, Leicester, LE1 7HA
(c) The Thelmas 2018
Friends and Lovers by Russell Highsmith - Full Play
Singles Night a new play by Shadowlight Artist Russell Highsmith.
was performed on 19th & 20th September 2018, at the Old Fire Station, Oxford,
Life is happening. Love is all around. Emma and James are flatmates; they’ve been friends forever, and are looking for their fairytale endings. When Amber pops up with her dating agency, “Friends ‘n’ Lovers”, what could possibly go wrong?
Presented as part of Film Oxford’s Shadowlight Artists Project, Singles Night is the new play by Russell Highsmith, a hemiplegic writer with learning disabilities. His 2016 play The Big Shock was performed at the Cornerstone in Didcot. His particular situation gives him a wry, sideways perspective on life but it’s a view that is always extraordinarily upbeat and optimistic.
Once again, he has teamed up with writer and director Mark Ralph-Bowman (With You Always, OFS 2016) for another story about the comedy and pain of falling in love.
The Shadowlight Artists Project is a group of professional artists with learning disabilities, supported by Film Oxford and funded by Arts Council of England. Their exhibition, Rising ran 19 October – 10 November at Modern Art Oxford and Old Fire Station Gallery. Singles Night was performed by professional actors.
Cast:
Alexander Hopwood – James
Francesca Louise White – Emma
Megan McInerney – Beth
Marcus Davis-Orrom – Pat
Jenny Johns – Amber
Otto Baxter - Ryan
“Russell is remarkable. He writes from the heart and that is why his work is so touching and true.” – Paul Mayhew-Archer (writer, comedian and former BBC editor)
shadowlightartists.org.uk
ART & MONEY - Where's the CHANGE?
Another day, another funding cut. In the age of austerity, it can feel like the arts are in desperate need of a guardian angel. In search of a solution, Arts at the old Fire Station held an open and honest public debate between artists, art institutions and funders.
Watch the funder’s perspective
Watch the artist’s perspective
Watch the venue’s perspective
Read the report:
‘Art and money – Where’s the change?’ was hosted by Arts at Old Fire Station, as part of Oxford Marmalade 2015. Sir Peter Bazalgette (Chair of Arts Council England), Hedley Swain (Area Director South East at Arts Council England) and Jane Tarr (Director Organisational Resilience and Environmental Sustainability and North) joined artists, arts managers and professionals to explore how the arts, business and social change meet.
Find out more about Marmalade at the Old Fire Station
Arts at the Old Fire Station
Twitter
'ART & MONEY' with Peter Bazalgette. The funder's perspective
Peter Bazelgette, Chair of Arts Council England gives an artist’s perspective on 'Art & Money - Where is the change?' hosted by Arts at the Old Fire Station.
The VENUE’S perspective
The ARTIST’S perspective
OVERVIEW
Read the report:
'Art and money – Where’s the change?’ was a day of open debates hosted by Arts at Old Fire Station, as part of Oxford Marmalade 2015. Sir Peter Bazalgette (Chair of Arts Council England), Hedley Swain (Area Director South East at Arts Council England) and Jane Tarr (Director Organisational Resilience and Environmental Sustainability and North) joined artists, arts managers and professionals to explore how the arts, business and social change meet.
Find out more about Marmalade at the Old Fire Station
Arts at the Old Fire Station
Twitter
'Moby Dick: A Whale of a Tale', Old Fire Station, Oxford 1991
'Moby Dick: A Whale of a Tale', Old Fire Station, Oxford 1991. 'Primitive', Queequeg - Theresa Kartell.
Balloon For Sale
Taken from Correctness Gone Mad, a comedy sketch show written by Craig Holmes and Andy Murray, and performed in Oxford, England in early 2009. This recording was made on 8th March 2009 at the Old Fire Station Studio Theatre. It stars, in order of appearance Joe Morpurgo, Rachel Parris and Craig Holmes.
For more information, go to our website - gelasticband.co.uk
#Choreocracy by Tim Casson & Seb Lee-Delisle - 2019 (Trailer & Vox Pops)
It's back! The joyful interactive dance & digital show you control with your phone! Did we mention the #rainbowlaser?
Catch CHOREOCRACY on tour this SPRING 2019!
**SPRING TOUR 2019**
Mon 4th March - CREWE - Crewe Lyceum
Fri 8th March - CAMBERLEY - Camberley Theatre
Sat 16th March - BORDON - The Phoenix Theatre & Arts Centre
Thurs 21st March - STAMFORD - Stamford Arts Centre
Sat 23rd March - SPALDING - South Holland Centre
Thurs 28th March - OXFORD - Arts at the Old Fire Station
Fri 29th March - LONDON - Theatre Deli London (The Old Library)
Sat 30th March - SOMERSET - The David Hall, South Petherton
Fri 12th April - LEICESTER - @Attenborough Arts Centre
Commissioned by DanceEast and Supported by Theatre Deli London, South East Dance, and Studio Wayne McGregor through the FreeSpace Programme. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
Ross & Rachel by Olivier-nominee James Fritz
After an award-winning, critically acclaimed, sell-out world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival 2015 Ross & Rachel makes its way to New York, London and across the UK in 2016!
Ross & Rachel tells the mind-bending, heart-breaking story of what happens when a couple that was always meant to be together, gets together. And stays together.
In this disquieting duologue for one performer, 2015 Olivier-nominee and 2016 Critics Circle Most Promising Playwright winner James Fritz (4 Minutes,12 seconds Hampstead/West End) takes an unflinching look at the myths of modern love.
Molly Vevers reprises her award-winning performance in this startling new play (THE SCOTSMAN) directed by Thomas Martin with design by Alison Neighbour, lighting design by Douglas Green and sound design by Jon McLeod. Produced by Andrew Hughes (MOTOR)
WINNER: The Stage Award for Acting Excellence 2015
★★★★ The Independent★★★★ What's On Stage ★★★★ TimeOut★★★★ The Stage★★★★ Exeunt ★★★★ The Scotsman ★★★★A Younger Theatre
2016 Brits Off Broadway Festival, 59E59 Theaters, New York
17th May - 5th June
Marlowe Theatre Canterbury
Friday 17th June
Battersea Arts Centre,
Tues 21st June - Saturday 25th June
bit.ly/1M91RbF
Offbeat Festival at The Old Fire Station, Oxford
Sunday 26th June
Incoming Festival at The New Diorama Theatre, Lodon
Tuesday 28th June
The Lowry
Thursday 30th June
Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd July
Cambridge Junction as part of Hotbed Festival 2016
Saturday 9th July
Visual Transcript - BBC Radio's Sue Marchant interview
Accessible to D/deaf and hard of hearing audiences
★★★★★ Extraordinary and visceral. The kind that leaves a mark' Edinburgh Reporter
Arresting, immersive and startlingly original A Younger Theatre
People of the Eye tours the UK this Autumn.
17th October - 19th October Battersea Arts Centre - BAC
Saturday 11th November Wiveliscombe Community Centre Somerset through Take Art
Thursday 16th November The Seagull (theatre) Lowestoft
Saturday 18th November Attenborough Arts Centre Leicester
Monday 20th November Stamford Arts Centre
Friday 24th November Arts at the Old Fire Station Oxford