Tableaux Vivants 1971-1974

COCKPIT ART STUDIES – THE JOURNEY INTO “ART STUDIES”: A PROLOGUE

The Cockpit Theatre and Arts Workshop was a jewel in the Inner London Education Authority’s crown when it opened in 1970. It quickly established itself as a centre for innovative creative arts engagement for young people in and outside of formal education. It convened initially around a Theatre-in-Education (TIE) but was then joined by a Music Department and a burgeoning Visual Arts Team. This amalgam of actors, musicians and artists had the opportunity to perform and present together in what was then considered a dynamic, multi adaptable educational space – at that time, one of a kind.

A performative repertoire quickly emerged to which young people, teachers and youth workers were welcomed. Into this mix stepped Howard Romp, a visual artist given to installation activities and ‘happenings’ himself (which were emerging at that time through a growing number of fringe theatre companies).

In 1971 Adrian Chappell was invited to work alongside Howard, first on a voluntary basis then as a Visual Arts Team member where they quickly forged a reputation for offering innovative visual arts education experiences to schools (primary and secondary) across London. These often focused on three dimensional interpretations of well-known art works in London galleries. The Cockpit Theatre space itself provided a bespoke ‘test-bed’ for schools to participate in these one-day immersive experiences. 

In a short space of time the approach was branded as “Tableaux Vivants” and publicity about the Team’s offers was widely circulated across London schools. The activities then began to attract the interest of art galleries themselves. Little in the way of experimental arts education had previously taken place in galleries until then; it was the Tate Gallery that created the first big opportunity to engage “Tableaux Vivants”. On one occasion, the Visual Arts Team collaborated with the Tate Gallery and the then Department of Education and Science (DES) to stage a week-long course for secondary school teachers. The occasion was video recorded in the Cockpit Theatre and subsequently used by Tate Gallery to promote its own innovative approach to the new spectacle of gallery-based arts education (see, for example, “Kidsplay” 1974/75).

In 1973 Howard Romp left the team. Adrian was appointed his successor and, some months later, he made two additional key appointments to support the emboldened “Tableaux Vivants” programme. First was Alan Tompkins then followed by Eileen Hooper-Greenhill. Alan was responsible for the new Cockpit Gallery in the theatre’s foyer among many things and Eileen brought a wealth of experience and knowledge about the visual arts world. 

Around this time (1973/4) the Visual Arts Team began to shift away from its dramatic historical interpretations of the likes of Uccello’s “Battle of San Romano” to develop a more contemporary programme of image-making for schools – a programme based on deconstructing modern imagery (especially in the world of advertising). At this time John Berger’s formative book “Ways of Seeing” was published. The Team was joined by Andrew Dewdeny and Martin Lister, both of whom brought new critical thinking into the Visual Arts Team’s programmes. By then “Tableaux Vivants” had morphed into “Art Studies”.