New stage direction for London’s Unicorn Theatre

London’s Unicorn Theatre has confirmed that it will approach designers in the New Year for a ‘massive overhaul’ of its website, www.unicorntheatre.com.

The move follows the appointment of Pentagram last month to work on the theatre’s brand identity, as it moves to raise its profile ahead of the launch of a purpose-built children’s theatre in 2005.

According to Unicorn Theatre marketing director Emma Simon, the revamped website will for the first time offer bookings for productions, previously an impossibility as the 50-year-old theatre has moved ‘from pillar to post’ between temporary homes. Simon says she will look to prospective design teams to make it both ‘more user-friendly and more time- efficient’.

The website is expected to feature the brand identity work by Pentagram, which will also roll out across promotional and marketing materials, including letterhead, direct mail, brochures, fliers, posters, banners and tickets, throughout 2004.

Simon says she briefed the design group to create a ‘sharp, clean, contemporary identity, befitting a grown-up theatre for children’. ‘We’ve had so many changes over the years that people are very confused about who we are, and what our mission is. It’s important for us to present a strong [visual] identity in time for the opening of the new building,’ she explains.

In 2005 the Unicorn Theatre will move to the More London development in Southwark. The building and interiors, including lighting, seating and auditorium, are by Keith Williams Architects, working with Arup (DW 30 October).

Pentagram, which the Unicorn Theatre approached in October, has agreed to forego its fee for the work. Pentagram partner John McConnell declined to comment on the project.