Retail Theatre Example

Students from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art took up residence in the windows of Heal’s flagship store in February to create a unique piece of retail theatre.

Sir Ambrose Heal, founder of the iconic furniture store, had a keen interest in fine art and attended classes at the UCL Slade School of Fine Art. Heal’s has been at the forefront of modern British design for 200 years and worked with UCL as part of its bicentenary celebrations from 1–7 February.

The inspirational design project saw interactive art installations being created day and night by 18 Slade students in Heal’s 27-metre showcase window on Tottenham Court Road. The short film below features some of the students at work:

  

This work essentially looks at addressing current community growth by engaging with the wider public. There are many examples of retail theatre in the above video. These can be applied to Paddington by looking at the wide variety of traders that work within one community. Through this method of retail theatre they offer an interactive activity to encompass the whole community. This is done through workshop activities, studio activities, installations and events, basically anything that is effectively happening within the community.