OLD MARKET—ALL PREVIOUS BOOKINGS CANCELLED
Yes/No Productions, creators of Stomp, the international alternative dance troupe, exchanged contracts for The Old Market last week, and will launch their new venture with an exclusive performance for the 2011 Brighton Festival. All previous bookings: lectures, concerts and weddings, have been cancelled.
Yes/No Productions, formed in 1991, intend to create an artistic space where ideas can be formed, performed and taken out on the road. The main hall will become a recording venue for musicians, choirs and orchestras, and a rehearsal space for both theatre and dance groups. Luke Cresswell, one of the directors of Yes/No, said that they were aware of the fantastic accoustics of the building.
Plans are being drawn up to create a series of performing arts summer schools. It will be a commercial venture not reliant on grants and subsidies, but still focused on residents of Brighton and Hove.
Yes/No Productions had originally planned to take over the Astoria but this proved to be an inappropriate decision for them at the time. The Old Market will be closed for a short time so that essential work and small renovations are carried out, but they plan to reopen in November 2010.
Timeline of the Old Market:
1828 The Old Market, designed by Charles Busby, opened as the market building for Brunswick Town.
1840 The Old Market became a riding school.
1880 The building was aquired by Alfred Dupont and became known as Dupont’s West Brighton Riding Academy. The building was enlarged to provide additional stabling.
1929 Converted to a grocery distribution warehouse.
1930 Bacon smokery added.
1970s Plans to develop it as an arts centre were examined.
1980s Project falls through for lack of funding, and the building left empty.
1995 The Hanover Band Trust commissioned a feasibility study. A separate trust to run the building was recommended.
1996 Old Market Trust formed to own and manage the building.
1997 The National Lottery awarded £3.8 million to restore the building.
2010 Sadly The Old Market closed, the building is bought by Yes/No productions.
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