The Box Office

Late afternoon I walked up the road to the Shakespeare North Playhouse, for a coffee and a piece of Victoria Sponge. This is the third time I have been for this purpose in just over a week. I was suitably distanced from an art class - 14 ladies were sketching two other ladies under the tuition of a younger artist. They seemed a friendly lot. I’ve added an extra.

In the image I have focussed in on a larger artwork in the foyer. To quote from the accompanying explanation:

“Ceramic money boxes like these were used to collect payment from theatre goers hundreds of years ago in Elizabethan and Jacobean times. The takings could only be retrieved by smashing them open when full. The term “box office” comes from the place they were stored.
This art installation features 380 replica money boxes, handmade by local school pupils and members of the community. Artist Louise Waller led the workshops, later dipping the pots in a dark treacly glaze. This reflects the finish found on Prescot pottery, once a key part of the town’s industry. Each money box contains a message from its maker. These are hopes, dreams or messages that will remain secret”.