Roland Smith

Housed in the former Observer/Guardian building on Farringdon road now lies Theatre Delicatessen, a support network for artists and performers to collaborate on productions, learn important business skills and thrive within the creative community. Aside from offering onsite performance and rehearsal spaces, the company also collaborates with property developers to find other interesting spaces in which to present interactive, immersive theatre.

The man at the helm is founder and artistic director Roland Smith, a fascinating man who afforded me plenty of time and good humour as we made our way through the labyrinth of former office spaces. The site itself is a playground for photographers. Left largely as it was after the newspaper team moved out, little pockets of activity pop up throughout the building. You might think a floor is desolate, but then you stumble on the costume department working in a tiny corner, or hear the distant tapping away of the props guy on a deserted upper floor, building set pieces for the latest show. Just walking round the building is rather like an immersive theatre experience itself.

We ended on the roof with views across London, though it was the industrial aesthetic of the building that caught my eye for the final shots.

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