Clerkenwell Design Week 2012: a tiny mobile theatre with chimneys made from coal scuttles played host to audiences of up to six during Clerkenwell Design Week in London last week.

Above: photograph is by Jim Stephenson

Designed by London studio Aberrant Architecture, the Tiny Travelling Theatre was inspired by contemporary accounts of the music club started by Clerkenwell resident and coal salesman Thomas Britton in 1678, which took place inside the miniature concert hall that he built above his coal-shed home.

Above: photograph is by Jim Stephenson

Circular skylights were concealed within each of the theatre's chimneys, while a huge funnel on one side channelled out sound from the performances taking place inside.

A door with a large circular handle led visitors inside the small venue, where they could sit down in one of three recessed booths in the chunky chipboard walls.

Cartoon-style drawings of the theatre were created during the design stage and you can see them in our earlier story.

This isn't the smallest venue we've ever published - take a look at a folk-music venue for one here.

See all our stories about Clerkenwell Design Week 2012 »
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Photography is by Simon Kennedy, apart from where otherwise stated.

The text below is from Aberrant Architecture:

‘The SMALL-COAL-MAN'S Tiny Travelling Theatre
Clerkenwell Design Week 2012, 22-24 May, London

A mobile theatre visited Clerkenwell Design Week in London, inspired by a miniature concert hall above a coal-shed that used to be in the area in the seventeenth century.

Above: photograph is by Mark Cocksedge

The SMALL-COAL-MAN'S Tiny Travelling Theatre, by aberrant architecture, gave its debut performance at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week 2012.

The mobile theatre, towed by a VW Split Screen Camper Van, toured Clerkenwell for the duration of the festival occupying multiple sites including Clerkenwell Green & St John’s Square. Inside an audience of up to six people enjoyed a series of intimate one off performances, ranging from theatre & comedy to music, which explored the intense emotion of a micro live performance.

In 1678 a travelling coal salesman, named Thomas Britton, turned his rooms above a coal shed in Clerkenwell into a concert hall called the Small-Coal-Man’s Musick Club, a wildly popular venue that attracted performances from first-time amateurs to Handel.

The SMALL-COAL-MAN'S Tiny Travelling Theatre draws on contemporary accounts to replicate some of the ad-hoc attributes of the original venue. The stage door is opened by use of a boat handle and a ‘coal scuttle’ roof, referencing Britton’s former profession and his own concert halls fully functioning organ, filters dappled light into the miniature auditorium.

Inspired by small one-to-one spaces, such as a confessional booth or a peepshow, audience members have to duck to enter and are seated in extruded seating boxes whilst an assortment of musical instruments & other props allow viewers to join in with the performances.

A large Sound funnel gave passers by a small taste of the acts occurring within, while folding tables & ice buckets on the exterior allowed visitors to enjoy a pre & post-performance drink in the impromptu bar.

The Tiny Travelling Theatre will now tour the country and could be coming to a town near you soon.