The Wapping Project is a UK

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based arts organisation and a working name of Women's Playhouse Trust (WPT) since 2000. WPT is a registered charity (286384) established in 1981 and incorporated in 1982. The project works as a commissioner and producer of art.

History

Throughout the 1980s and the early 1990s, WPT worked predominantly at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, London. The first WPT production was a revival of

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; baptism, bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration (England), Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writ ...

's ''The Lucky Chance'', performed at the Royal Court in 1984, starring

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...

and

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter is an English actress. She has received an Olivier Award and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British E ...

. In 1993 WPT began to mount work in the derelict

Wapping Hydraulic Power Station The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station (built 1890) was originally run by the London Hydraulic Power Company in Wapping, London, England. Originally, it operated using steam, and was later converted to use electricity. It was used to power machi ...

in the East End of London. WPT purchased the building from London Development Agency and invested £4 million in converting it into an arts centre. The conversion was designed and overseen by architectural practice Shed 54. The new gallery space opened on the 10 October 2000. WPT sold the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in 2013. WPT's founder and artistic Director,

Jules Wright Jules Wright (25 February 1948 – 21 June 2015) was an Australian-born theatre director, a co-founder in 1981 of the Women's Playhouse Trust (WPT), the first resident woman director at the Royal Court Theatre, being at that time one of only six ...

, who was diagnosed with cancer in February 2015 and died on 21 June 2015. WPT continues its artistic work under its working name The Wapping Project, headed by its former Deputy Director, Marta Michalowska, and a longstanding collaborator of Jules Wright, Thomas Zanon-Larcher.

Recent work by The Wapping Project

* Andrea Luka Zimmerman's films ''Wayfaring Stranger'' (2024) and feature documentary ''Erase and Forget'' (2018) * Shona Illingworth's installation ''Topologies of Air'' * Mairéad McClean's installation ''Making Her Mark''

References

External links

The Wapping Project website

WPT archives at Bristol Theatre Collection
1981 establishments in England Arts organizations established in 1981 Arts organisations based in England Charities based in London Cultural organisations based in London {{UK-org-stub