W: A RETURN TO OZ

W: A RETURN TO OZ (Redruth Screening) @ The Ladder / Eyes Peeled Film Club

Witness the rise and fall of The Warehouse, a rave venue from Plymouth and times gone by now reduced to a derelict shell. We explore its history, its people and the future. An amateur filmmaker-explorer finds the building in an empty derelict state, long after the prosperous life and energy it endured through the 90s. Through a combination of archives and stories of people who lived there, the film explores through the medium of analogue what once was and how even a now silent derelict shell can become the centre of the universe.

In the backdrop of The Warehouse is the infamous Union Street, a former cesspit of bars, clubs, drinkers, fighters, workers and lovers. The Union Street’s influence over Plymouth’s nightlife grew from the proximity to its historical Naval deports such as Mill Bay, Devonport and Torpoint, where young sailors after months at sea come on land to blow off steam. When it was first constructed between Plymouth’s divided cities of Stonehouse and Devonport in 1820, it was a wealthy plush estate. As it progressed into the 20th century, it became Plymouth’s red light district. A hyper concentration of Bars and clubs for the influx of Naval punters and to serve the local working class community entertainment and leisure.

Since the 80s and 90s, bars and clubs started to diminish. Places closed down or gentrified into apartments or just left astray to be at the mercy of the elements – abandoned and broken beyond repair. Confusions and neglect over ownerships and wanting to preserve the grade I and II listed buildings, we have now a ghost street of memory with its stories, characters and music ready to burst.