Can you hear that, kids? It’s the sound of Drama Society ripping up their turtle- necks and in collective disgust. Christmas time usually brings glad tidings – and plenty of cash – for the Bloomsbury Theatre. However, this year’s unexpected closure will disappoint anyone hoping to see David Walliams’ ‘Gangsta Granny’ on stage. The extended renovation is causing headaches for theatre staff, and hurting the Bloomsbury’s reputation, but the mess may have been easier to avoid than UCL are letting on.
The works – which were brought for- ward when it was realised they would ex- pose decades-old asbestos – meant shows booked for this winter were forced to find alternative venues. A UCL spokesperson told The Cheese Grater that “additional structural works impacted upon known areas of asbestos and so the original antici- pated timescales for completing the pro- ject have had to be extended.” Nobody’s explained exactly who knew about the as- bestos though. According to one source, theatre staff were in the dark about the problems until UCL Estates fessed up in August, just a few days before the delays were announced.
UCL has long struggled to rid its age- ing estate of asbestos, but management have known about the Bloosmbury’s car- cinogenic treasure trove since 2005, and The Cheese Grater even reported on it in 2008 (see CG16). Exactly why it’s taken a full decade to carry out the “full clean” that UCL has now ordered is unclear.
A meeting last year proposed the radical idea of merging asbestos surveys across campus, helping to “streamline ef- ficiencies” throughout Estates. Hopefully UCL’s recent award of a multi-million pound contract to asbestos removers Maylarch will finally get to the bottom of the problem.
One thing that is clear is the amount of upset luvvies who have taken badly to be- ing denied their moment in the spotlight. Several months ago, the theatre’s opera- tions manager Frank Penter was overheard moaning about his woes into an over- priced pint in the Jeremy Bentham. After being forced to cancel months’ worth of shows, the Bloomsbury’s reputation has now been dragged through the mud.
It’s yet to be seen if the Bloomsbury will still be able attract the big names when it reopens, but now that theatre compa- nies have been burned once, they’d have to have asbestos hands to make another booking.