The pub theatre venue opposite Highbury & Islington station, the Hen & Chickens, is a vibrant venue now celebrating its silver anniversary since James & Felicity Wren (co-artistic directors) and Mark Lyminster (theatre manager) as Unrestricted View took over operations upstairs.
James stopped by to tell us more about 25 years on the London fringe.
Congratulations on 25 years of Unrestricted View at the Hen & Chickens! Where did it all start?
Thank you! It all started back in 1999. I’d written a play (Shame) which we had booked for a four-week run.
When we arrived for our get-in, the guy who was running the theatre had disappeared and there was a new landlady running the bar who had no idea we were arriving.
We became great friends and after our run, she asked us if we could hang around for a little while to run the theatre. That was 25 years ago…
You have a lovely fringe space in Highbury & Islington – how do you programme it and what type of shows catch your eye?
We have a mixture of new writing (or new companies) theatre, Comedy and independent film festivals. We like to meet potential companies and see for ourselves how passionate they are about what they are doing.
I firmly believe that it is our responsibility as a fringe theatre to allow writers, directors and actors to have a platform to learn their craft, hone their plays and work in a safe space which allows them to make mistakes. I think that’s how we learn.
How has the London fringe changed since you started Unrestricted View?
I think the biggest change has come from the internet. 25 years ago, in order to get reviewed, you needed to be doing (at least) a four-week run.
Now with access to quick online reviews this is no longer necessary so companies are choosing to do shorter runs to develop their production before moving on to festivals, tours or bigger venues.
Also ticketing and marketing has become much easier for venues and companies alike.
What’s been your highlight of the last 25 years, and your biggest challenge?
So many highlights. I am quite proud of Unrestricted View Film Festival which has grown massively over the last nine years and is now a BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) qualifying festival.
I think our biggest challenge more also be one of finest moments, In 2011 (due to no fault of any of the team), the theatre was severely damaged by a fire. And we genuinely thought that would be the end of the theatre.
However, we salvaged what we could and set about rebuilding. The landlords were utterly amazing and our team worked round the clock.
Unbelievably, we opened a new show two weeks later. That was quite an emotional (and a little bit drunken) night!
What’s it like to be in a friendly pub like the Hen & Chickens, and how do you fit in with the other local pub theatres?
We get on well with other pub theatres (as I write this, Emma from the Canal Café theatre is rehearsing in our theatre!).
I think we all operate slightly differently which can only benefit the wide range of requirements and resources of incoming companies.
The more of us pub theatres there are, the better it is for the artistic community so I far as I’m concerned they are all great.
What’s coming up over the next few months?
We have a packed schedule of the next few months. We have:
Corona Daze ( https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/corona-daze/) which is a humorous portrait of a woman on a housebound journey of enlightened self-discovery (17-25 Apr & 19-25 May 7.30pm).
Unrestricted View Film Festival 2024 (https://uvff.co.uk/) (29 Apr-5 May)
So Help Me Dog (https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/so-help-me-dog/) A revealing, tough, at times humorous courtroom drama (28 May-1 Jun, 4-8 Jun, 11-15 Jun 7.30pm)
Plus much more: https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/