Thurrock Tour
Thurrock Tour
Thurrock Tour
Discover the fascinating world of the craftspeople who create stunning costumes, scenery and sets for the Royal Opera House on a tour of the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop and Costume Centre.
Discover the fascinating world of the craftspeople who create stunning costumes, scenery and sets for the Royal Opera House on a tour of the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop and Costume Centre.
Discover the fascinating world of the craftspeople who create stunning costumes, scenery and sets for the Royal Opera House on a tour of the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop and Costume Centre.
Background
High above the surrounding rooftops, the enormous, purpose-built Production Workshop is home to scenic painters, carpenters and metalworkers. Here they make the designers' visions into reality, creating the many different sets that appear in the ballet and operas performed on the Royal Opera House stage in Covent Garden.
Set in the High House Production Park in Purfleet, amid beautifully landscaped gardens, the Production Workshop is a fascinating and inspiring places to discover the skills behind theatre and costume construction and design.
This tour takes place in the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop a purpose-built, state-of-the-art theatre craft workshop. Due to maintenance, from February to June 2024 Thurrock tours will not include access to the costume store and workroom. Instead, your tour will include a rare visit to our wigs store, opera shoe store and costume display area.
Please note: Upon arrival, please assemble outside the Coachman's Café ten minutes before the start of the tour. The tour guide will collect you from there. The Coachman's Café is open for snacks and drinks before or after your tour.
Getting here
If arriving by car, please enter the site via the address below:
Main High House Production Park Entrance: Vellacott Close (off London Road), Purfleet, Essex, RM19 1RJ
If arriving by coach, please enter the site via the address below:
Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop Entrance: Purfleet By-Pass, Purfleet, RM19 1TT
If arriving by public transport, your closest mainline train station is Purfleet on the C2C route. These trains operate from London Fenchurch Street and head across the Essex county. When disembarking the train, exit the station and turn left. You will follow the road (A1090) for 1.9 miles. Follow the road all the way to the entrance of High House Production Park which will be on your left hand side. This part of the journey will take 20-25 minutes so please factor this in to your overall journey time.
Accessibility
This tour takes you through different areas of the Production Workshop and Costume Centre in Purfleet, Essex, including long corridors and stairs. The flooring is also different depending on where you are in the building – some floors are smooth and tiled or wooden, some are carpeted.
The lighting is a mix of natural and artificial light and the flooring varies throughout — some floors are carpeted and some are hard and smooth. There is no seating during the tour and are no cloakroom facilities available.
Our tour guides use descriptive language which helps to paint a picture for blind and vision impaired visitors.
Please get in touch at boxoffice.access@roh.org.uk after booking to let us know your access requirements so we can make sure you have the best experience on your visit. We can help plan the tour if you require wheelchair access, if you need to use the hearing loop or if you need to take regular breaks. We do provide all visitors with a headset to amplify the voice of your tour guide. Unfortunately, our hearing loops aren't compatible with Bluetooth.
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775)