Celebrating 20 years of TR2

Driftwood

A city of waves
crush an armada
at sea.
Stranded driftwood
flotsam history
unknown stories
in each piece.
Like plays
without words
these memories
are silent,
pregnant with
potential they sit
upon the rocks.
Seagulls poised
on bowsprits,
reflected colours
in permanent
movement
upon waves
that bring back
stories.

Ian Ritchie
June 1998

ps
Prince Edward came
stood proud
turned the key
enter all, touch and
make theatre
Edward Scissorhands
with Bourne, again,
with Mackintosh,
again, the stories,
just keep on coming
from all over the world
‘My Neighbour Totoro’
‘Bat out of Hell’
to beach at TR2,
and on its twentieth birthday
Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
shares coronation theatre
in England’s capital.
Bravo Plymouth!

Ian Ritchie
May 06 2023

“The marvel of TR2 is that during its c20 years of occupancy, despite periods of highly intense use across a variety of industrial, creative and educational functions, there has not been a single request to change the design or retrospectively reconfigure any aspect of the building. This is testimony to the meticulous process of brief development which ritchie*studio undertook in a painstakingly iterative process with our key staff who would be subsequently working in the building. I would cite it as exemplary professional practice.
Most importantly the building is a joy to occupy, work in or just visit. It comprises healthy life enhancing spaces. Because of this world-leading artists such a Matthew Bourne and Hofesh Shechter choose to develop and launch all their new productions from Plymouth. Yukio Ninagawa from Japan and Complicité have also chosen to create work at TR2 alongside regular commercial partners Cameron Mackintosh and Disney for whom the Theatre Royal regularly manufactures large scale sets and props. If anything the organisation’s appreciation of the quality of the building has grown since we first took occupancy.”
Adrian Vinken, CBE, former CEO of Plymouth Theatre Royal