Museum team shortlisted for the UCL Education Awards

Today sees the launch of the Bloomsbury Festival, a yearly celebration of the inspiring minds, institutions and residents of this buzzing quarter of London.[[{"fid":"6431","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"1403","width":"1787","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]UCL Culture will be leading the UCL Hub in our Main Quad this Saturday - a day of drop-in activities exploring this year’s festival theme of Independence, and the science and art of living well.So what’s going to be happening? We’ll be looking at how new technology is improving our lives – from virtual reality tech, to pollution-filtering devices for cleaner breathing. Our friendly researchers will be demonstrating how their work is helping the visually impaired, and how technology will allow us to be independent as we age. We’ll even have a solar-powered café to keep you refreshed throughout the day.[[{"fid":"6423","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visual impairment","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Visual Impairment Hackathon","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"right","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visual impairment","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Visual Impairment Hackathon","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"right","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3876","width":"2579","class":"media-element file-small"}}]]The drop-in activities will show a cross section of research taking place at UCL which aims to improve our quality of life, including workshops on developing personal power by experts in public health. You can attend wellbeing classes and get a massage with a leading vegan skincare range, and join the UCL Art Museum to explore art as therapy.We’ll think about identity through storytelling, and celebrate Indian independence with folktales. If by that time you’re getting peckish, keep an eye out for our neighbours Planet Organic who will be dishing up healthy food on the day.We have a packed programme of performances at the Bloomsbury Studio too. Read more about them here.For full listings of the festival go to the Bloomsbury Festival website.[[{"fid":"6271","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival logo","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Festival logo","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"287","width":"768","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]   

At the Bloomsbury Theatre we’re having some major renovation work done before our grand reopening in Autumn 2018. And while it’s really exciting to see our facilities given the royal treatment – which you can read more about here and here - it also means we say a fond farewell to certain relics from our past. One such piece of history is these crazy poster collage from the walls of our green room. [[{"fid":"5175","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3456","width":"5184","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]]Oh if these walls could speak! We can only speculate as the debauchery that’s taken place here, and frankly that’s probably not for a family audience so we’ll not dwell on it…It got us thinking though, why is a green room so-called? After a quick google search, we found there are loads of different theories including:Cockney rhyming slang for stage is “Greengage”Actors used to prepare for their performances in a room filled with plants. It was believed that the moisture was good for actors' voices.A red lamp is lit behind the scenes when recording or broadcasting is happening and a green lamp when the cameras are off or between takes. That last one sounds particularly unconvincing, especially because the earliest known use of the term ‘green room’ was in 1678 (before electric lamps), in Thomas Shadwell’s play A True Widow, which refers to "a green room behind the scenes". But it didn’t explain why it was a green room and if it was meant literally.[[{"fid":"5167","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3333","width":"5000","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]][[{"fid":"5179","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3456","width":"5184","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]]There didn’t seem to be a definitive answer anywhere we looked. So we decided to throw the question out there and see what answers we could get from some theatre friends of ours. The results are a mixed bag, but some of our favourites include: Actors backstage who were about to vomit were said to look ‘green’Green = youth. The green room was where understudies to major players/actors would wait for their chance to appear on stage.It was where a green sward (piece of fake grass) was stored to the side of the stage, used to signify an outdoor scene during the play.Some of these sound more credible, but we’re still no closer to knowing the truth! What do you think?We’ll be continuing the debate on Twitter, so send us your suggestions @UCL_Culture using the hashtag #whygreenroom #greenroom[[{"fid":"5183","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3456","width":"5184","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]][[{"fid":"5191","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bloomsbury Theatre green room","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"3456","width":"5184","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]]