2011 - 2015
Revival
The wonderful original group of trustees, who had worked so hard to establish the OSO, were ready by 2012 (after 12 years of commitment) to hand over the reins to a new generation of trustees.
I was already familiar with the OSO both through a love of theatre and through periodically hiring the venue. I saw the amazing work of the original trustees and the potential of the venue – I was only too happy to take on the mantle of Chair of Trustees. Joined soon after by Steven Mindel, Patrick van den Bergh, Mark Lumsden and Peter Beck, we set about building a new trustee board. Our first, and most consequential, decision was to appoint a salaried Arts Centre manager – enter the indomitable Lisa Ross in May 2013.
We had three priorities – financial sustainability, physical improvements to the venue to improve the visitor and performer experience, and developing the programme of events, all priorities which remain our constant focus today. Improvements to the venue would be costly and it was going to take time to build our programming, so to ensure an income stream we hired out the venue for classes and private events, and refitted our cafe to attract more customers. We were also grateful to the BCA for a loan (now fully repaid) to help us make necessary upgrades to the venue and to our community for helping to fund the retractable seating that is still in use and enables the flexible use of the venue.
Gradually, we built a team that included a Programmer (the role that has now developed into the Artistic Director position held by Lydia Sax), and Cafe staff, as well as creating an invaluable group of volunteers, without whom we would not be where we are today.
In summary, the years 2012-2015 were all about putting in the building blocks that have enabled us to flourish today as a popular and successful fringe arts venue.
Simon Danciger – Chair of Trustees 2012-2023
2011
Writer Jenny Haddon appears at the OSO for the BLS in a talk entitled ‘Our Love Affair with Heroes’. Poet and author, Blake Morrison, also put in an appearance at the OSO for the BLS, with a talk entitled ‘Writing from Life: The Novel or the Memoir?’.
2012
The original group of trustees who had started the OSO stood down and the OSO was temporarily closed.
2013
The original trustees handed over the reins to a new group of local trustees, with Simon Danciger as Chair of Trustees. A new charity, the Barnes Community Arts Centre, was set up and also registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 1 Feb 2013. Its charitable objective are:
TO PROMOTE, MAINTAIN, IMPROVE AND ADVANCE EDUCATION AND APPRECIATION OF THE ARTS IN ALL FORMS AMONG THE PEOPLE OF BARNES AND THE SURROUNDING AREA.
The setting up of the new charity was followed by the appointment of the OSO’s CEO, Lisa Ross in May 2013.
The OSO’s first Panto, Cinderella, was produced by the OSO Panto Players, set up by Joel Coussins, starting a local annual tradition that now has a great following (in 2024, we sold over 1,700 tickets across the Panto season).
2014
The Tod Boyd Steinway piano was donated on long term loan to the OSO by the Boyd family, who lived on Castelnau for 90 years. The piano had been played by notable musicians such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Cecil Sharpe and used to accompany Isolde Menges, one of the foremost violinists of the first half of the 20th century. In 2023, the piano was gifted to the OSO – see the press release.
The first Barnes Children’s Literature Festival takes place, with the OSO hosting some of the events.
2015
The first Barnes Fringe Festival takes place at the OSO, featuring pre-Fringe warm-up acts.
The first Screen your Story takes place at the OSO.
Sathnam Sanghera, The Times’ journalist and author of The Boy with the Top Knot, discusses the inspiration behind his first novel as part of the BLS.
