The last of this years Heritage Open Days was to an exhibition at The Hexagon called, imaginitely enough, The Hexabition : Celebrating 45 years of The Hexagon Theatre.
If I’m going to be honest The Hexagon is one of if not the most ugly buildings in Reading and it has quite a few challengers for that title. It’s not just that it is very angular but also that it is very concrete-y too. I guess what I am saying is that the place is hard to love.
Nevertheless, there was a small but interesting exhibition laid on inside. This mainly consisted of clippings, theatre posters and flyers from the last 45 years. It was from one of these clippings that I learned that the place was named by a competition where a local schoolgirl came up with the name “The Hexagon” for the new hexagonal building – inspired!
There was also a short film of archive footage set to a piece of music called “The Hexagonal World of The Twelve Hour Foundation” by Bristol based electronica band which was more interesting than the film which was, frankly, pretty boring. It was also a pity that they didn’t choose to use a local band such as Corporation Tramways and Fine Arts Committee.
For some reason I managed to miss that there were also back-stage tours being offered but by the time I realised they were all booked up, which was a shame.
And that’s it for this year. Once again some interesting visits and I look forward to seeing what next year brings.
I remember the Hexagon being under construction in 1974. Been to quite a few concerts and discos there – I think it will be 50 years old next year!
Think it is only the 45 anniversary this year so you have a few more years before you need to fly back to help celebrate!