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Spaces of preparation: The Acton ‘Hilton’ and changing patterns of television drama rehearsal

Hewett, RJ

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Authors

RJ Hewett



Abstract

It is only comparatively recently that performance in arenas other than theatre and cinema has begun to receive serious academic attention. The ‘Spaces of Television’ project and the University of York’s ‘Playing the Small Screen’ symposium have each opened up discussions regarding the impact of production process and space upon television acting, yet little consideration has been given to those spaces in which performances were traditionally prepared prior to studio transmission or recording. This article attempts to address this by focusing on the BBC’s ‘Television Rehearsal Rooms’, better known by those who used them as the ‘Acton Hilton’, which offers a precise model of the ‘outside’ rehearsal process which characterised multi-camera studio production. A creative hub for not only drama, but also sitcom and light entertainment, the Hilton represented an extended community for the many performers who gathered there to rehearse – a community that has all but disappeared in the modern era of single camera location work, where prior rehearsal of the type conducted at Acton has virtually disappeared. Drawing upon a combination of archive research and interviews with practitioners, this piece examines the important role played by the Acton Hilton in the history of UK television acting.

Citation

Hewett, R. (2014). Spaces of preparation: The Acton ‘Hilton’ and changing patterns of television drama rehearsal. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 34(3), 331-344. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2014.937179

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 11, 2014
Deposit Date Jun 11, 2015
Publicly Available Date May 11, 2016
Journal Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
Print ISSN 0143-9685
Electronic ISSN 1465-3451
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 34
Issue 3
Pages 331-344
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2014.937179
Keywords BBC, acting, rehearsal, performance, multi-camera, Television Centre, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2014.937179
Related Public URLs https://salford.academia.edu/RichardHewett
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/chjf20?open=34#vol_34

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