Van Gogh takes to the stage at Hippodrome
City theatre turns performance space into art exhibition
BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome has staged something of a comeback after months of closure – thanks to Vincent Van Gogh himself.
After a six-month shutdown, the venue is hosting Van Gogh Alive, “a multi sensory experience giving visitors the sensation of walking inside the paintings of one of the world’s most famous artists”.
Hosting the UK premiere of the exhibition – which has won rave reviews around the globe – is a huge coup for the Hippodrome.
The Dutch post-impressionist painter’s work, including Sunflowers, The Starry Night and over 3,000 more images are being digitally displayed on giant screens, walls and even the floor of the Hippodrome’s main stage itself.
Visitors can also smell fragrances specifically designed to evoke the setting of the paintings by the troubled Dutch genius who famously cut his own ear off.
The exhibition adheres to social distancing and strict Covid safety guidelines, with bookings made in time slots.
A Hippodrome spokeswoman said: “For the first time the audience will be allowed onto our main stage, where Van Gogh Alive is taking place, giving them the sensation of walking straight into his paintings, engaging all senses, sight, sound and smell.”
Like many businesses, the theatre has been forced to adapt its business model post Covid.
Fiona Allan, the
Hippodrome’s artistic director and chief executive, said: “It being financially unviable for Birmingham Hippodrome to reopen for live performance until social distancing guidance is relaxed, we have had to completely rethink how to use the building and how to serve our public.
‘‘The opportunity to do something completely different with our spaces, and still provide a high quality and compelling cultural experience, came at exactly the right moment.”
Van Gogh Alive runs until Thursday, December 31.