Oikos Project | Theatre

Theatre

A Salvaged Stage in the Heart of Southwark

Oikos (pronounced ee-kos) is ancient Greek for house and the root word of economy and ecology. Embracing these principles, we embarked on an exciting theatre project: a unique mix of public-made art, architecture and performance that explores how a new sustainable society can flourish in a world altered by climate change.

Over summer 2010, on a playground in the heart of London, award-winning Berlin-based architects Köbberling and Kaltwasser worked alongside volunteers to create The Jellyfish Theatre, London’s first fully-functioning theatre made entirely from recycled and reclaimed materials.

Focussing on energy-efficiency, co-operation and human-scale construction, The Jellyfish Theatre was showcased as part of the London Festival of Architecture in July and opened to the public at the end of August. A temporary structure, The Jellyfish Theatre was made of materials from all sources: junked theatre sets, reclaimed timber from building sites, Covent Garden market pallets, old kitchen units that the public bring along.

With climate change already impacting on our lives, The Red Room commissioned leading playwrights, Kay Adshead and Simon Wu, to examine ways our society may adapt for survival in two urgent and inspiring plays written specially to be performed in this unique venue from the end of August. Read more about the plays and how to book here.

This is a ground-breaking project, full of optimism and fun, which we hope will empower people to realise new possibilities in how we might live in the future. We invited local residents, environmentalists, theatregoers and anyone who loves our city to join us: to look round, take part in the build, participate in workshops and to be entertained in our theatre.

What the Press said about the theatre:

“Imagine Noah’s ark sitting in a school playground in London and you get some idea of what Britain’s first recycled theatre looks like. One end resembles a ship’s stern, the other a prow made of discarded doors and chairs. I can’t improve on what the Guardian’s Jonathan Glancey called The Jellyfish Theatre: junkitecture. And I can only echo his praise for the capacity of the Berlin architects, Kobberling and Kaltwasser, to make imaginative use of everyday materials, including timber pallets. The building, which will be dismantled in early October, is a disposable triumph.”

Michael Billington in The Guardian

“It looks fantastic – rather graceful in its idiosyncratic way. It sits in a school playground not far from London Bridge like a resting spaceship from a particularly right-on planet. It is a low structure, clad in a jaunty patchwork of wooden panels, extended fore and aft by pallets and planks that give it the rough shape of a boat (a junk, perhaps) and festooned with decorated water bottles.”

Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times

The Jellyfish Theatre

Marlborough Playground, 11 – 25 Union Street, London SE1 1LB

See where we were

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For contact and booking details click here