Civic Theatre History

Transcription

1 Civic Theatre History The New Hippodrome & Palace of Varieties was formally opened on Monday September Its first Managing Director was Signor Rino Pepi, an Italian ex patriot who was originally a quick change artist (or protean) and impersonator, whose love of theatre took him into a management career. George F Ward of Owen and Ward of Birmingham, a firm specialising in theatre building, designed the theatre and Owen and Ward were responsible for the building of the theatre. It is constructed from local Middlesbrough red brick with terracotta dressings. Above the Parkgate entrance is a 64 foot high pyramid roofed tower (housing a water tank) that gives the theatre's distinctive appearance and was used to provide highpressure water for aquatic scenes that were popular at the time. The ornamental canopy is a replica of the original iron and glass structure, which was destroyed by a traffic accident in the 1960s. The theatre flourished during the 20 years Signor Pepi ran it but following his death in November 1927, its future became uncertain. Competition from cinema became a real threat and a succession of different managers struggled to balance the books. Indeed at one stage the theatre was equipped with a film projection box at the rear of the Upper Circle, this can be seen above the name on Borough Road side of the building. In 1966 after much hard work and enthusiasm from members of the community, especially Darlington Operatic Society, the Borough Council of Darlington assumed full financial, administrative and artistic responsibility for the theatre on behalf of the town. The New Hippodrome became officially known as Darlington Civic Theatre. The Parkgate Foyer The Parkgate foyer (or 'old foyer' as it is also called) was the entrance for the Front Stalls and Dress Circle seats. Patrons with tickets for the Upper Circle or Stalls Pit entered the building through the entrances in Borough Road. Until 1977 the theatre's Box Office was situated in this foyer. It was removed to its present site when the adjoining fish and chip shop became vacant together with rooms upstairs, which now form the theatre's Administration Offices. The Stalls The ground floor of English theatre is usually known as the Stalls. The name comes from the fact that the first fixed seats in the earliest theatres (built in the late 16th or early 17th centuries) were in the form of wooden partitions or stalls. The present Stalls area

2 has 431 seats. At the rear of the Stalls on either side of the auditorium are compartments designed to accommodate patrons in wheelchairs. Each compartment (or Box as they are officially known) can accommodate up to 4 wheelchairs or 8 individual patrons. At the rear of the Stalls is the Sound and Lighting control area, from where technicians control the lighting and sound effects required by performances. The fully computerised lighting control desk sends signals to dimmers which in turn provide power to the lanterns which you will see hanging from brackets around the auditorium and focused on the stage area. The sound control desk controls the input from microphones, mini disc machines, instruments and various sound effects into the amplifiers, which feed the loudspeakers around the stage area. Other facilities housed in this area include, backstage calls, headsets, infra red and induction loop for hard of hearing patrons and a back up lighting control system in case of failure on the main dimmer control. Adjacent to the control area is a glass fronted room, this is the room from which Audio Description is done, this provides a facility for Blind or Visually impaired patrons. The customer wears a headset and a description of the Show, Set, Costumes and movement of actors on stage is given to enable the customer to visualise what is happening. All the people who provide the description service are volunteers from Darlington Operatic Society. At the front of the Stalls is the Proscenium Arch through which the audience watches performances on the stage. The Proscenium Arch is surmounted by an attractive Cartouche plaster scroll and houses the main curtain (or Tabs ) and the safety curtain (or Iron ). The Arch is 28'6" wide. The first three rows of the Stalls (rows A, B and C) can be removed for performances that require an orchestra in front of the stage. The area formed by the removal of the seating is then known temporarily as the orchestra pit. At the time of opening the theatre had a capacity of nearly 2000 people, today that has been reduced to 901. The Stage The stage is the platform upon which a performance takes place and is thus the most important part of any theatre. The stage is

3 racked or sloping and this fact is made clearer by stage directions: upstage is towards the rear of the stage, downstage is towards the auditorium. The left hand side of the stage looking out at the auditorium is known as prompt side' or 'stage left', and the righthand side as 'opposite prompt' (OP for short) or stage right. The prompt desk (where the Stage Manager sits whilst in charge of the performance) is sited stage right, and is thus known somewhat indelicately as a 'bastard prompt'. From here the Stage Manager (or more usually the Deputy Stage Manager or DSM for short) will be responsible for giving the 'calls' for a show, using a prompt script. The prompt script is a text of a play with detailed note of when and where cuts should happen. A cue is a signal for action and is usually precedented by a 'standby call'. Calls can be given over a tannoy system to actors and technicians or through an internal intercom system (known as cans ). A third system of cueing is with the use of lights red for standby and green for go! The DSM can also give signals to the public areas (known as front of house) such as the bars or usherettes room, altering staff to the imminent arrival of an interval or end of act (or curtain down). The DSM is also responsible for summoning the audience into the auditorium from the front of house by the use of bells. A colour TV is situated above the prompt desk so that the DSM can see exactly what is happening on stage. The camera for this TV is sited underneath the centre of the dress circle. Adjacent to the prompt desk are the ropes controlling the rise and fall of the "house tabs" (the big red curtains) and this is done with the use of counterweights. The stage will normally have scenery erected upon it and lighting rigged above it and at the sides, borders or legs black cloths hanging either horizontally or vertically, will mask any equipment or lighting not supposed to be seen by the audience. When scenery and lighting arrives for a performance it normally arrives at the dock door (stage left) from where the stage staff offload it onto the stage. This is known as a get in and fit up, and for some shows can involve the staff in several days work before it is ready to be seen by an audience. Dismantling the scenery and loading on to the waiting lorries is known as a get out. The Box Office In 1977 Darlington Borough Council purchased the then Regent Fish and Chip shop in order to re locate the Box Office in it's present position from the foyer in Parkgate. The new Box Office opened in May while the aptly named Crown Matrimonial was showing this

4 being the Queen's Jubilee Year. There was, however, some confusion and the old Box Office in the main foyer continued to open 1 hour prior to a performance for the collection and payment of tickets for a further 18 months, and even now, some customers still ask in the foyer where they collect tickets for that night's performance. The Box Office was originally two separate areas, the public area for counter sales, which also contained the 'pigeon holes' behind the counter, which were full of ticket books for each forthcoming performance. The public chose their seats from the racks (see examples in Dressing Room 5). The other area was the office where telephone bookings were taken and all administration work took place. The Box Office had a further move in 1990 while the theatre was being re furbished. For 4 months it was 'housed' in the foyer of the Town Hall. It was during this time that the Box Office was computerised. The Box Office, as it is now re opened in May 1990 with it's new counter area holding 3 computer sales points, of which 2 are staffed at all times (10am to 8pm 6 days a week) and the third at busy times and evenings while patrons are collecting and paying for tickets for that evenings performance. There is also an office area for computerised telephone sales, holding 2 continually staffed lines. The office space however, soon proved inadequate and a further extension was added to house the two main machines that control the computer system leaving space for a further 3rd computer and telephone, to be staffed during busy times and a terminal for training purposes. The Box Office tends to be a very busy area and is often the first point of contact with the theatre patrons. It has a staff of nine who work a rota system in order to cover the long working week. Dressing Rooms The dressing rooms have all been refurbished with help from the Friends of Darlington Civic Theatre. They all have the same basic facilities a washbasin, power point light bulbs so that when applying make up an actor (or actress) can have a pure and uncluttered light as possible. No.1 Dressing Room has it's own shower and is usually reserved as the one for the star artist of any performance. Some dressing rooms can accommodate only 1 or 2 artists; some have room for a small chorus. For many big musicals there is often a problem fitting people in!

5 Function Room The function room occupies a space, which has seen quite a few changes since the theatre was built. It has been a bar, office and ladies toilets and is now available for entertaining small parties of patrons. It was refurbished with financial help from Darlington Operatic Society. This room is often used to accommodate sponsors and corporate members for pre show and interval hospitality. The Dress Circle The dress circle is so called from the custom of having to dress up in ones best clothes in order to be admitted and in most theatres is the most expensive area of seating. The dress circle and adjoining arch are two pedimented boxes. The sight lines from these boxes on to the stage are not very good as they were designed for people to be seen in, rather than to see the stage. However without them the auditorium would lose much of it's architectural charm. The left hand box was used regularly by the first Managing Director, Signor Pepi, and is still sometimes referred to as Signor Pepi's box. Signor Pepi had a small bed sitting room and kitchen (now dressing room 5), which is situated behind the door to the left of his box. He would often enter the dress circle through this door (concealed by a curtain) and enter his box often accompanied by his wife and little Pekinese dog. Signor Pepi is supposed to haunt the theatre and in fact there have been many occasions where his presence has been felt; indeed there are a few members of the current theatre who staff who claim to have actually seem the maestro himself! it is said that Rino Pepi was a very popular man, much respected and of considerable charm and culture. At the rear of the dress circle is an Ice Cream/Sweet Kiosk built with funds raised by the Friends of the Civic. The Upper Circle The upper circle or Gods as it is sometimes called, seats 168 patrons. Originally it seated as many as 600, but there were not individual seats, just benched tiers and patrons sat against the knees of those seated behind. The tiers are quite steep some 45degrees and anyone suffering from VERTIGO BE WARNED! For many years this area was closed to the public and the access staircases blocked off. The lighting control desk was sited at the front of the upper circle before being moved down to the rear stalls. The rest of the area was used as a useful storage area. The ceiling was painted black and the decor neglected. In 1990 the area was reclaimed and re opened in November of that year. Although the

6 sightlines of the stage are not quite as good as from the stalls or dress circle it is a very popular part of the theatre with very good legroom for the tallest of patrons, and has it's own Ice Cream Kiosk in the left hand corner. At the front of the upper circle on either side is a gallery from which follow spots are operated. These are large pivoted lanterns, which are operated manually and used to illuminate an artist on stage and follow his or her actions, usually with a highly concentrated beam of light. The Flys This area is above the stage and should not be attempted by anyone suffering from vertigo. The fly gallery is the area from which the technicians raise or lower the scenery (or fly it). Bars are hung on hemp rope above the stage and used for hanging cloth or lanterns. Each bar has three ropes attached to the end furthest from the fly floor, a centre one attached to the centre of the bar and thirdly a short rope attached to the end nearest to the fly floor. The ropes run through pulleys in the grid, high above the stage housed in the fly floor where they are tied off in a cleat. By skilful manoeuvring and the tying of knots on each rope the position of each bar, when it is either on view or out of view, can be ascertained. The blackboard is used to record all the cues required during a performance and will note the number of the bar and whether it is to be flown in (down on to the stage) or out (up to the grid). The stage staff who work on the fly floor are known as flymen. They usually wear gloves to protect their hands from the friction of the fast moving ropes. Many of the techniques used in theatrical flying are similar to those used aboard sailing ships and for many years in the past it was common to have sailors employed as flymen in the Victorian theatre. Instruction were given to flymen in Victorian times and before, by whistling. Signor Pepi's Bar During 1988 the Box Office was getting used to turning people away for the most successful shows and a decision was taken by Darlington Borough Council to increase the capacity to 900. This would be achieved by re opening the upper circle and enlarging the stalls by altering the rear seating and pushing the rear wall back into what had become the theatre's main bar. An extension was designed on two storeys, the ground floor accommodating a new

7 foyer, coffee bar, toilets and cloakroom with a spacious new bar on the first floor. The bar was named after the first Managing Director of the old theatre. In order to instigate these improvements the theatre was closed from the end of the 1989/90 pantomime Cinderella for about 10 months a new enlarged Civic Theatre opened in November The Conservatory Bar This is the latest addition to the theatre building. It is the result of a desire to provide bar facilities on the ground floor, which could be easily accessible to patrons in wheel chairs or just unable to use stairs. It is of a design unlike any other room in the theatre and since it s opening in April 1994 has proved very popular. It was built with the aid of a grant from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts. Hemp Flying The use of flying effects in theatre dates back to the open air amphitheatre of the Ancient Greeks, when cranes were often used to give the illusion of actors winging their way over the auditorium. Once proscenium arch theatres became the norm, painted cloths were often used to provide different backgrounds on which the action could be played and this is where Hemp Flying was born. Wooden battens were suspended on at least three ropes from the grid (a loft above the stage at twice the height of the proscenium arch). These ropes ran through pulleys, through another three sheave pulley known as the header block and down onto a gallery on one side of the stage. This was the fly floor. The ropes were then tied off on a cleat. Many Hemp Houses used a double row of cleats on which to tie off in and out deeds. Darlington Civic is unusual in using the single cleat system that will be explained to you today. A cloth or piece of scenery tied to one of the battens could then be raised from or lowered to the stage in the same way as snails were manipulated on the ships of the day and it was no accident that many of the original Hemp Flymen were ex sailors. The term Hemp comes from the material that the ropes used were made of. Ropes used in sailing were almost universally made of this until the advent of synthetic fibres, and hemp still offers a better durability, tolerance to shock loads and resistance to ultra violet light than many of it's modern counter parts. It has however become a generic term for the system and the rope you see today are usually made of sisal.

8 The system was ideal for the simple requirements of Box Set Drama, Pantomime or Music Hall but as productions became more ambitious and the weight and complexity of pieces of scenery grew it became superseded by the counter weight systems, which most large theatres use now. Here at the Civic Theatre we often receive shows that have flying effects that involve heavy and cumbersome pieces of scenery. These are often impossible to achieve using the Hemp system and as a result we have developed other machinery for use on these occasions, which you can see demonstrated today. On the whole however the Hemp system offers a quick, safe and flexible means of flying for the simpler more traditional production and indeed the method is seeing something of a revival in smaller arts centres and schools around the country. Ghosts of the Civic Theatre Whilst we have mentioned Signor Pepi already and he is the most well known spirit presence in the theatre, he is by no means alone, the theatre boasts several other ghosts, Jimmy the Flyman haunts the areas above the stage and is said to have hung himself from the fly floor, Jimmy is more sensed than seen but he can at times be heard ascending or descending the ladders from the Fly Floor to the Stage. Gordon the old Stage Door keeper is sometimes encountered doing his rounds and locking up the theatre as he did all those years ago. The stage has its own ghost in the form of a young lady who stands in the stage left wings and watches rehearsals of Ballet or similar performances no one knows who she is but it seems likely that she was a dancer in life and is still attending rehearsals. Dressing room 12 is haunted by the spirit of a 12 year old girl called Arabella First identified by a Medium in 2004, it is believed that she is from a building that existed on the site before the theatre, she has been seen on two occasions and can be heard sobbing. Finally the most unusual spirit is that of a little Pekinese dog, believed to be the dog that Rino Pepi brought here in 1907, the little dog has been seen running around the theatre and its remains were found entombed in a wall when the theatre was refurbished.