Review: The Ugly Duckling
Volunteer reviewer Lucy saw The Ugly Duckling in December 2022. There’s an energy that’s usually missing from matinees. An excitability. A rush in the air that swirls like snow or sugar. In contrast to...
Read MoreStorytelling: what we’ve done & what we’ve learned (7 min read)
As part of the Meaningful Measurement Action Inquiry, the Old Fire Station have been working in collaboration with over 60 partners across the county and beyond to experiment with Storytelling. In September 2022, we...
Read MoreReview: Dido’s Bar
Volunteer reviewer Lucy went to see Dido’s Bar. She tells us what she thought: OVADA is a warehouse tucked away in the centre of Oxford. From the outside it’s a carpark. You could easily...
Read MoreWhy have we become obsessed with meaningful measurement?
Jeremy Spafford, Director of the Old Fire Station, spoke at a Meaningful Measurement Inquiry: Why have we become obsessed with meaningful measurement?
Read MoreYou are welcome here.
Dear trans and non-binary community: whether you are an artist, audience member, volunteer, member of staff or have any other connection to the building, you are welcome here. If you feel unsafe at any...
Read MoreIt’s not easy (talking about) being green
Our friends at house theatre network asked us what we’re doing about the climate crisis. Here’s what our Alex, our Head of Creativity & Communications, had to say: How do you talk about the...
Read MoreReview: Learning To Fly
OFS reviewer and volunter usher Lucy saw Learning To Fly in September 2022. Originally, I wasn’t going to write a review. With my life descending into a black hole of appointments, assessments and errands,...
Read MoreWhy aren’t we doing a Christmas show, this year?
Since 2016, the Old Fire Station has produced Christmas shows for grown-ups. We identified a non-panto niche in the city’s arts offer, and with a lot of help from Arts Council England, we made...
Read MoreWhat difference have I actually made?
Why Meaningful Measurement is important
Read MoreWhat we learned at the 2021 Meaningful Measurement inquiry events
How to create ways of evaluating work that takes into account people’s stories and experiences, and shift the focus from the process of measuring, to the learning it gives
Read MoreThe journey to evaluation and storytelling in our every day
At the Old Fire Station (one of the organisations that founded the Marmalade core group), we spent many years struggling with evaluation. We found that conventional form filling, box-ticking and number counting didn’t always...
Read MoreReview: Fifteen Years Of Granite
OFS reviewer and volunteer usher Lucy saw Fifteen Years of Granite, July 2022. Saturday 16 July, 6.30pm, and I have snuck away from a party to usher (and review) 15 Years of Granite, a...
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