In 2019, The Stage magazine published two articles arguing that “Theatres risk becoming irrelevant unless their leaders are prepared to give over power to local communities.” (Madani Younis and Tarek Iskander in The Stage, 16th Oct 2019); and “Theatre must stop imposing ideas on communities [and] build trust” (Lyn Gardner in The Stage, 23rd Sept 2019).
If only they had spoken up the year before.
Yet, given these opinion pieces, it sits oddly that The Stage awarded the Tricycle Campaign “Most Pointless Protest 2018” (The Stage, 20th Dec 2018). We are rightly proud of that award because it shows what an impact we made in the theatre world – and that we were ahead of the curve.
In contrast, Kiln Theatre’s rebrand is still the most pointless name change and this campaign still hopes that one day its management will “give over power” to the local community, “stop imposing ideas” on Kilburn and “get out of the way”.
We just want our Tricycle back.
My considered verdict on they who named the Kiln, is: “they have been at a great feast of languages, and stol’n the scraps” (Love’s Labour’s Lost).
Often enough the most remarkable theatre in town – Financial Times
The landmark that put Kilburn on the map was stripped of its identity, leaving those around it feeling bereaved for the theatre they loved.
Our campaign hopes the Tricycle name and good sense will be restored; and that Kilburn’s theatre will reconnect with the community it humbly used to serve.