Newcastle Theatre Royal Gets Major Makeover
For the first time in 26 years, the backstage areas
of Newcastle’s historic
Theatre Royal, including the Green Room and dressing rooms, are set to undergo
a major refurbishment which starts today.
The work is scheduled to take a
little over a year, finishing in September 2015. It will be the first time the backstage area
has been refurbished or decorated since 1988, when the whole Grade I listed building
was redeveloped. The work is the second
act in a major facelift, ‘Act One’ being the Theatre’s award winning £4.9
million auditorium restoration which took place in 2011.
This time the focus will be on the
areas that the public don’t normally see – the stars’ dressing rooms, rehearsal
rooms, Company Manager’s Office, Stage Door reception and Green Room (the area
where performers wait before they are called onstage). There will be some
rebuilding work where the ground floor will be opened up to increase space, but
mostly major redecoration to drastically improve comfort, accessibility and
facilities for visiting companies and their performers.
The new design aims to maximise
interaction between Theatre staff and the touring companies, something which is
inhibited by the current layout. The
entrance will be opened up to allow those in the waiting area to get a greater
sense of the theatrical operation beyond the secure doors, and the communal
spaces will be much more comfortable, relaxing and with better technology. All the dressing rooms will be thoroughly
modernised and improved, featuring new furniture, finishes, washing facilities
and service points, and the principle dressing rooms will feature beds for the
first time. The Green Room will also
benefit from the addition of a fishtank, a feature widely known to provide a
serene and relaxing backdrop for nervous performers!
The architect on the project is
Will Mawson, of Newcastle based firm Mawson Kerr, whose recent projects
include the high profile £1.6 million Sunbeams music therapy centre in Penrith
and the Friar House Apartment Hotel in Newcastle. Newcastle
City Council’s construction team will manage the build itself, led by Project
Officer Mark Preston.
The project has been made possible
thanks to a generous legacy left by a longstanding
Friend of the Theatre, Joyce Thwaites, with some of the Theatre’s own savings. The Friends of the Theatre Royal have also
made a donation of £5,000 towards the project.
In total the work will cost £530,000.
Theatre Royal Chief Executive Philip Bernays said: “We’ve wanted to
refurbish our Back-of-House for a long time now, but as we are a charity it’s
been a question of waiting until we had enough money to do a good job. When we were left a generous legacy we were
delighted to be able to allocate it to this.
Companies love visiting us but do often complain about the facilities in
the backstage areas, so it’s great to be able to finally help them. We are carrying out the work in floor-by-floor
phases to minimise disruption, working our way
down from the top floor dressing rooms and stopping work during our biggest
shows such as the RSC, Opera North and our world-famous Pantomime, for all of which we
need every inch of space.”
Will Mawson of Mawson Kerr said: “We
are delighted to be able work on this project – the Theatre Royal is a stunning
building and a fine example of a Matcham Theatre and so naturally we were
excited to play a part in enhancing it for
the enjoyment of future generations. We
believe the general enhancements will provide a modern, comfortable and
inspiring backstage area befitting the high calibre of performers who reside
there.”
Cllr Stephenson, Cabinet Member
for Communities at Newcastle City Council, added: “We are delighted that
Newcastle City Council is able to provide the construction service for this
refurbishment. This is a fantastic project which will go a long way in
sustaining one of the North’s most treasured and well-loved theatres.”
During the refurbishment process, all shows will appear to schedule as
normal and other
Theatre functions will continue undisturbed, including the Learning programme, Bars and Box Office.
For further information about
leaving a legacy, please call Anthony Dorman, Corporate Sales Executive on 0191 244 2599 or seek
professional guidance from your solicitor. You can include the Theatre in your
will by directing your gift to the Theatre Royal Trust (Reg Charity No:
504473). The
Theatre Royal has full charitable status and as such a legacy gift to the
Theatre is exempt from Inheritance Tax.
No comments:
Post a Comment